I just got back from running my course in Atlanta on hair restoration that involved a new hands-on component. I look at it as a mini-St. Louis Course, the main course that I run each year that is a very extensive hands-on course. This is my second year running the Atlanta meeting and I am very proud to say that the course has continued to mature. I believe as an educator there is not substitute for a hands-on experience because in a few minutes a student can learn what he or she is doing wrong and correct it. For example, I gave the lecture on hairline design then immediately segwayed over to the laboratory portion. Just watching the students struggle with a hairline was proof to me how valuable the exercise was. I then reminded them of the logical sequence of steps to get to the right design and they eventually got it. I have already put together the course for next year in 2014 and added my “Critical Thinking Day” from St. Louis into the course, i.e., I added three panels to teach one how to think in a critical manner. All of this learning is crammed into a single, full day. Not ideal way to get all the information across to a newbie but a great introduction that is intense and fun, at least in my opinion. Here is a link to the course: http://www.ffasurg.org.

Dr Samuel Lam is a board certified hair-transplant surgeon in Dallas, TX. To schedule a consultation please call 972-312-8105, or visit Dr Lam’s hair transplant forum to ask him a question.