The Essentials book, available in PDF form, has been written primarily for medical students, with constant attention to the thought, "Is this something a student should know when he or she finishes medical school?" It is not designed to be a comprehensive text, but rather an outline that can be read in the limited time available in a burgeoning curriculum. It is designed to be read from beginning to end.

Plastic surgery had its beginning thousands of years ago, when clever surgeons in India reconstructed the nose by transferring a flap of cheek and then forehead skin. It is a modern field, stimulated by the challenging reconstructive problems of the unfortunate victims of the World Wars. The advent of the operating microscope has thrust the plastic surgeon of today into the forefront of advances in small vessel and nerve repair, culminating in the successful replantation of amputated parts as small as distal fingers. Further, these techniques have been utilized to perform the first composite tissue transplantations of both hands and partial faces. The field is broad and varied and this book covers the many areas of involvement and training of today's plastic surgeons.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is proud to provide complimentary copies of the Plastic Surgery Essentials for Students handbook to all third year medical students in the United States and Canada.

*NOTE: This is not a physical book, but available as a downloadable or viewable PDF online.