Dr. Bunkis Visits Microsurgery Department in Latvia

Hello again! After a prolonged absence induced by an overabundance of other duties and distractions the last few months (including the launch of our MD Performance Professional Skin Care line!), it is my intention to get back to a weekly blog-posting schedule—at least until the summer vacation season starts.

As I write this, I’m in the lounge at Heathrow Airport, on our way back from the Baltic country of Latvia. I went to Riga, the capital city of Latvia, at the invitation of the Latvian government as part of the interview process and orientation to becoming the Honorary Consulate General for the Republic of Latvia in Southern California.

I had a very interesting time visiting this historical city and the foreign ministry in Riga, meeting fascinating people who obviously live in a different world from the one I’m used to. I spent two days at the foreign ministry.

While using this opportunity to reconnect with many relatives I had not seen for some 19 years, I also spent some time in a more familiar setting: lecturing and operating at the University of Riga School of Medicine (Riga’s Stradinu Universitate).

Surgery at the University of Riga

I was the guest of Professor Skageris (an old timer at the University whom I had the pleasure of meeting and operating with 19 years ago, the last time I was there—my, how things have improved!), and also of Dr. Nonna Tomiseva (a two-time visitor with us at Orange County Plastic Surgery) and her microsurgery department at the University. They have some 15 physicians working in their microsurgery division, which is about 12 surgeons larger than any microsurgery division I’ve seen in the U.S.A. I was totally blown away by the advanced procedures and excellent quality work that these dedicated physicians did!

I was with the Latvian doctors at the University for two days. I did surgery the first day, together with Professor Skageris, Dr. Tomiseva and their plastic surgery residents. We did two facial rejuvenations procedures, a mastopexy (breast uplift) with breast augmentation and an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). Naturally, the aesthetic procedures are of great interest to these doctors because aesthetic surgery is not done as frequently as it is here in the United States, but the doctors sure would like to do it more frequently to supplement their meager university salaries.

Latvia Under the Soviets

For those in need of a history refresher, Latvia was an independent country prior to World War II. During the war it was occupied by the Soviet Union and forcefully annexed. For more than 50 years it deteriorated under Soviet rule.

Latvia regained its independence after the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991. During the Soviet years, the Latvian people were severely oppressed. Obviously, things like aesthetic surgery were not a priority then and existed at very primitive levels (it was not considered an acceptable way to spend Soviet government funds).

These days, the plastic surgeons work for a national system, taking care of the deformed, burned, cancer patients and so forth. They dream of doing an aesthetic case now and then to help them make a living.

The evening after we did surgery, Dr. Tomiseva took us of a tour through Riga and a nearby seaside town, Jurmala (“Oceanside”). The scenery was fabulous and the food was great. If we could have had the choice, we would have opted for something other than blistering-cold wind and below-zero temperatures, but the area truly was beautiful!

Microsurgery Tour

The following day, we left for the University at 7:00 a.m. and I was treated to a lecture about the history of microsurgery in Latvia as well as a tour of the microsurgery unit. I was then asked to be the head consultant in a patient consultation session in which we saw six or seven patients with various stages of reconstructions for severe deformities.

We had lunch with the Professor at the University cafeteria and could not believe the excellent, first-class restaurant quality of the food served to the students!

Surgery Summit

The entire afternoon consisted of a joint meeting of the Latvian Association of Plastic Surgeons and the Latvian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, which was basically dedicated to my visit. Doctors from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were invited to the meeting and many from each country came.

Because doctors from multiple countries attended, the official language of the meeting was English, a blessing for me because I could give the talks in English instead of Latvian. (I can speak Latvian, but it is far easier for me to do a technical talk in English.)

I gave two one-hour talks about facelifts and ancillary procedures, listened to two talks from the microsurgery division, and finished the session with a one-hour review of the film that was shot during the facial surgery I performed the previous day. I held a running commentary for those who did not attend the live surgery sessions.

Relaxing and Reconnecting

Afterwards, about 25 of us retired to the Restaurant Ottella in Riga for a very memorable dinner. I made many friends with Latvian colleagues and expect a number of them to visit Orange County Plastic Surgery in the years to come.

The final two days in Riga were spent with relatives, culminating with a dinner at the Radisson Hotel Ridzene with my only living uncle in Latvia and all of my cousins and their spouses in attendance.

As Consulate General, I will be traveling to Latvia once every two years for meetings at the foreign ministry, and will no doubt take that opportunity to reconnect with my plastic surgery colleagues and relatives there.

Here are a few photographs taken during our trip: