Ethics and Safety in Hair Transplant Practice 

ISHRS 2025 CME Webinar

Ethics and Safety in Hair Transplant Practice 

Recorded on Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Registration Fees Per Webinar

Moderators

Moderator: Sara M. Wasserbauer, MD, FISHRS | USA 
Co-Moderator: M. Humayun Mohmand, MD, FISHRS | Pakistan 

Program Description

This 2.5-hour live webinar, “Ethics and Safety in Hair Transplant Practice,” is designed for ISHRS members who are navigating the complex ethics of hair transplant in a global context. Every one of us has a story involving delegating to non-medical personnel, misleading messaging like “no scar” or “painless,” performing surgery on young patients, lack of appropriate expectations or medical treatments, splitting grafts to inflate numbers… but how to handle each case? When your colleague boasts about letting a tech handle the hairline design, or patients lie about their pre-existing conditions, what is your ethical obligation? This session will cover the accepted standard of care for ethical behavior, and explore the ethical “gray areas” we face today.

Professional Practice Gap

Hair Restoration surgeons treat an exquisitely vulnerable population with limited resources for training and few colleagues to establish the standard of care due to the small size of the specialty. Most surgeons are “taught” FUE by the device companies, or enticed to perform hair transplant with outside teams of “hair techs” in a turnkey model that focuses on short term profits rather than long-term patient outcomes. Given these limitations, and the explosion of medical tourism hair transplantation, establishing the norms for the ethical treatment of patients with hair loss is essential and desperately needed.

Educational Need

There is a demonstrated need for:

• Patient consent, education, and expectation setting
• Long-term management of hair loss
• Appropriate delegation during a hair surgery
• Techniques to maximize hair growth over the lifetime of the patient
• Unusual cases such as repairing previous unethical work, surgical considerations for very old or very young patients,
• Use of automation, and unproven or experimental therapies
• Marketing and social media
• Compliance with Local and International Regulations

Improved understanding of these areas will enable participants to better assess and manage the surgical and artistic long term quality outcomes in HTS procedures by maximizing the use of a limited lifetime donor supply.

Learning Objectives

After participating in this webinar, attendees should be able to:

• Identify key ethical considerations in hair restoration surgery
• Demonstrate effective communication strategies to manage patient expectations
• Apply best practices for long-term management of limited donor areas
• Adhere to relevant local and international regulations governing practice
• Develop appropriate marketing and social media strategies for practice growth

Target Audience and Prerequisites

This webinar is taught at the physician level. It is open to all levels and geared toward advanced hair restoration surgeons.

Assessment Methodology

• Live Q&A Sessions: Encourage interaction and clarify key concepts.
• Participant Feedback Form: Evaluate the relevance, quality, and applicability of the program.

References to Support Educational Need

1. Areas of Unethical Behavior Practiced Today – W. Rassman. Hair Transplant Forum Int’l. 2009
2. Delineating the safe donor area for hair transplanting- Unger Walter et al. – The American Journey of Cosmetic Surgery, vol 11, N 4, 1994
3. Depth control in follicular unit excision. A new classification from a detailed analysis of 30 patients undergoing FUE technique for hair restoration.- Boaventura Otavio et al. – Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. 2022, 00-1-7.
4. Minimizing injury to the donor area in follicular unit extraction (FUE) harvesting – Zontos Geroge et al. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2016, 16, 61-69.
5. New strategies for using grafts harvested from outside the safe zone – True Robert et el. – Hair Transplant Forum International – 2021, 31, 3.
6. Strip harvesting follicular unit transplantation versus follicular unit excision: comparing the number of hairs and the ratio of hairs to follicular unit – Takata Pontes Luciana et al. – Dermatologic Surgery, 2024, 00:1-4.

Faculty Disclosures

All faculty will disclose any relevant financial relationships or conflicts of interest prior to the presentation.

Program Evaluation

Participants will complete an evaluation form to provide feedback on: 

• Relevance and quality of content.
• Impact on clinical practice.
• Clarity and effectiveness of speakers.

CME Information

Continuing Medical Education (CME) Credit Statement

The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery designates this Other Activity (blended synchronous and enduring) for a maximum of 2.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

To receive CME credit and a CME certificate, participants must participate in the activity, complete the evaluation survey and the CME Claim Form by January 12, 2026.

Format

Internet/online, via computer or mobile device. 

Official Language

The official language of the webinar is English. Simultaneous interpretation is not provided for this webinar.

Disclosure Information

In accordance with the ACCME Accreditation Criteria, the ISHRS must ensure that anyone in a position to control the content of the educational activity (planners/ speakers/authors/moderators) has disclosed all financial relationships with any commercial interest (termed by the ACCME as “ineligible companies”, defined below) held in the last 24 months (see below for definitions). Please note that first authors were required to collect and submit disclosure information on behalf all other authors/contributors, if applicable.

• Ineligible Company: The ACCME defines an “ineligible company” as any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services used on or consumed by patients. Providers of clinical services directly to patients are NOT included in this definition.
• Financial Relationships: Relationships in which the individual benefits by receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interest, excluding diversified mutual funds), or other financial benefit. Financial benefits are usually associated with roles such as employment, management position, independent contractor (including contracted research), consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and other activities from which remuneration is received, or expected.  ACCME considers relationships of the person involved in the CME activity to include financial relationships of a spouse or partner.
• Conflict of Interest: Circumstances create a conflict of interest when an individual has an opportunity to affect CME content about products or services of an ineligible company with which he/she has a financial relationship.

The ACCME also requires that ISHRS manage any reported conflict and eliminate the potential for bias during the educational activity.  Any conflicts noted below have been managed to our satisfaction. The disclosure information is intended to identify any commercial relationships and allow learners to form their own judgments. However, if you perceive a bias during the educational activity, please report it on the evaluation.

Disclosures of Relevant Financial Relationships of Planners, Faculty, and Others

All faculty will disclose any relevant financial relationships or conflicts of interest prior to the presentation.

Planners

Marco Barusco, MD, FISHRS – Planner & Faculty
Victoria Ceh, MPA – Planner & Manager
Aditya K. Gupta, MD, PhD, FISHRS – Planner
Robert S. Haber, MD, FISHRS – Planner
Rana Irfan, MBBS, FISHRS – Planner
Marissa LaDue, MPH – Planner & Manager
M. Humayun Mohmand, MD, FISHRS – Planner & Moderator
Hafiz Waqar Maqsood, MBBS – Planner
Maira Merlotto, MD, MsC – Planner
Ratchathorn Panchaprateep, MD, PhD, FISHRS – Planner
Farhaad Riyaz, MD – Planner 
Nicole E. Rogers, MD, FISHRS – Planner
Marie A. Schambach, MD, FISHRS – Planner
Miriam Scheel, MD – Planner
Melanie Stancampiano – Planner & Manager
Sara M. Wasserbauer, MD, FISHRS – Planner & Moderator

Faculty

Marco N. Barusco, MD, FISHRS | USA
Tim Carman, MD, FISHRS | USA
Shady El-Maghraby, MD, MSc, FISHRS | Egypt
Nilofer P. Farjo, MBChB, FISHRS | UK
Anil Garg, MS, MCh, FISHRS | India
Jennifer Krejci, MD | USA
Ricardo Mejia, MD, FISHRS | USA
William Rassman, MD | USA

Commercial Support

None

Off-Label Or Other Non-FDA Approved, Investigational Use

None

Other CME Information

Click for Continuing Medical Education Mission Statement
Learner Bill of Rights
ISHRS Privacy and Confidentiality Policy for Internet CME

Disclaimer

The webinar content has been made available by the ISHRS for educational purposes only. The content is not intended to represent the only, nor necessarily the best, method or procedure appropriate for the medical situations discussed, but rather is intended to present views, statements, and opinions that may be of interest to others. The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the ISHRS. The ISHRS assumes no responsibility or liability in connection with your use or misuse of the webinar content or any materials or techniques described in the content, and it makes no warranty or representation as to the validity or sufficiency of any information provided.

Questions: Learners may contact the ISHRS Headquarters with questions about this CME activity at phone +1-630-262-5399, or fax +1-630-262-1520, or email: gro.srhsiobfsctd-7558be@ofni