The Validation of the Efficacy of a "Breast Implant Teaching Model" to improve patient, resident, and staff education in breast augmentation

Substantial effort has been placed on redefining breast augmentation as more than just a surgical procedure. Peer reviewed publications document that complication rates and revision rates can be reduced when a greater emphasis is placed on preoperative patient education. Today, comprehensive patient education requires the physician become a more effective communicator. It is also important that any additional staff members such as patient educators and surgical coordinators, who often play an integral role in implant selection and the informed consent process, be trained in a similar fashion. Decisions made by the patient pre-operatively may have more of an impact on the quality of their result and its longevity than the surgical procedure itself, and it is during the educational portion of the breast implant consultation that surgeons have the best opportunity to introduce informed consent documents that will hold patients accountable for their decisions.

Most plastic surgeons and their staff develop their communication skills over many years. Offices are increasingly turning towards tools and technology to enhance their patient’s educational experience. Methods that include the senses; visual, touch, listening, 3-D images, and models, all improve the informed consent process. The breast implant teaching model was developed to provide patients with the opportunity to better comprehend their own anatomy, understand how their breast implants will be sized, where the breast implants may be placed, and most importantly, how we can best avoid producing the most common breast implant complications. The Breast Implant Teaching Model is an anatomically correct, life-sized mannequin. It will be inexpensive to fabricate, it is portable, and it is designed to bridge the common cultural and intellectual barriers that typically exist in patient education and the informed consent process.