Building capacity for aesthetic surgery in Nigeria: perspectives from the cosmetic surgery fellowship at the Ivo Pitanguy Institute Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Very little of cosmetic surgery procedures were done hitherto in most of the plastic surgery training institutions in Nigeria. The reasons for this are many. The practice and training is tilted significantly in favor of reconstructive surgery compared to aesthetic surgery with a ratio as high as 9:1 in the major teaching and training institutions in the country. As a result, experience is limited in cosmetic surgery and the trainees rarely participate in significant number of cosmetic procedures throughout their training. With the progressive increase in demand for cosmetic surgery locally, concerted efforts must be made to build the capacity of plastic surgeons to meet this growing demand. This article documents the experience of the author during a cosmetic surgery fellowship at the Ivo Pitanguy Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and drew perspectives from the experience for the building of capacity for cosmetic surgery in Nigeria.