On Saturday, June 24th 2006 dedicated physicians from across North America came together at Dr. Jerry Cooley's clinic in Charlotte North Carolina to exchange ideas about hair transplantation, while watching Dr. Jerry Cooley and his staff perform a state of the art Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Hair Transplant.

This surgical workshop was sponsored by the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians to enable physicians to learn more about Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation, while sharing ideas and pointers.

The "Gold Standard" for hair restoration surgery has risen to an ultra refined level. The Coalition is focused on advancing this optimal procedure not only by educating the public but also members of the hair restoration profession. All members of the Coalition have demonstrated mastery at performing the new Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation with excellent results.

This free event was limited to ten attendees to maintain an intimate scale. Some of these physicians are recommended on the Hair Transplant Network and/or are members of the Coalition. All of them share a common interest in striving to provide truly cutting edge ultra refined surgical procedures to their patients.

Workshop Attendees:

Dr. Jerry Cooley (Coalition Member) and Host
Dr. Bob Haber (Coalition Member)
Dr. Ted Katz (Hair Transplant Network Sponsor)
Dr. Ken Buchwach (Hair Transplant Network Sponsor)
Dr. Bill Parsley (Hair Transplant Network Sponsor)
Dr. James Vogel (Hair Transplant Network Sponsor)
Dr. Ron Shapiro (Coalition Member)
Dr. Ray Konior (Coalition Member)
Dr. Joseph Williams (Hair Transplant Network Sponsor)
Dr. Bill Reed (Invited Guest)

To see photos of this live surgery event, click here.

Technical issues that were discussed during the workshop include:

"Remove a safe size donor strip, while keeping the transaction of follicles to an absolute minimum by carefully removing a single elliptical donor strip. The donor spreader, invented by Dr. Bob Haber to virtually eliminate transaction during donor strip removal, was demonstrated and used to remove the donor strip.

* Close and suture the donor area under minimal tension to minimize scarring of the donor area.

* Create an overlapping ledge along the suture (Trichophytic closure) to make the donor scar virtually undetectable.

* Use of tiny instruments that create minimally invasive incisions

* Create incisions that are orientated (laterally and or sagitally) to achieve perfectly angled and directed hair that grows in completely natural directions.

* Session sizes discussion of what size sessions are both safe and optimal for the patient.

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Dear Pat,

Thanks for providing a summary of the Coalition Surgical Workshop. As I await the day I will book my 2nd HT, I often wonder how long I should hold off given the rapid advancement of HT methodology. It seems a year is making a huge difference in terms of both results and patient safety. If I had decided to go back after a year, neither Trichophytic closure or the advanced instrumentation to create smaller and smaller incisions would not of been available. This is always an interesting dilemma

Dr. Cooley's work was excellent, I felt incredibly jealous looking at those pictures.

Thanks again.
HH

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Dec. 2004 - 1938 Grafts via Strip
Feb. 2009 - 1002 Grafts via FUE

This is great Pat. I know its about a month old, but I just read this post and looked at the pictures.

One picture I would like to see is the doner area 5 days after surgery. Also, it would be interesting to hear what the groups conclusions were about optimal session sizes.

Dr. Cooley I gather tends to do shorter ones, while Dr. Hasson/Wong seem to specialize in mega sessions.

I'd be interested in opinions on this too. Certainly I'd rather have 1 session than 2 or 3, but if there is some question with respect to safety and outcome I'd love to hear about it.

cheers,
mark h