The Feb 2003 seminar for The Woods Technique is best summed up by one word "OUTSTANDING"!

There are plenty of open houses and seminars about hair transplantation but few can rival the success of The Woods Technique seminar on Feb 8th in New York City. This was by far the most informative seminar ever on the subject of hair transplantation.

Aside from the hard work of Dr. Woods and Dr. Campbell who went through two seminars in one day from 10 am to 8 pm without taking a break at all, credit should also be given to the seminar's attendees who shared with one another a dose of reality about what bad hair transplant works really mean.

The seminar was broken down into two sessions. The morning session was by invitation only and was intended for doctors were interested in learning The Woods Technique. The second session was open to the public. For the most part, Dr. Woods was conducting the seminar while Dr. Campbell was conducing private consultation for patients. This arrangement worked out extremely well.

There were about 25 attendees in the morning session, most of which were doctors who expressed interest in learning The Woods Technique. Drs. Woods & Campbell's goal was to train doctors who had no prior strip hair transplant experience. As a result, most of the doctors who attended were general practitioners.

Dr. Woods kicked off the seminar by showing a graphic video that illustrated vividly how traditional strip transplants are done by single or triple bladed knife slicing through the patient's scalp. Dr. Woods then proceeded to illustrate the problems associated with strip transplants, such as high follicles transection rate and trauma to the patient etc. The discussion was then followed by a video illustration showing why The Woods Technique is undeniably a minimally invasive technique that yields excellent results with low follicles transection rate.

DECLARATION OF PATIENTS' RIGHTS !

A recently added segment to The Woods Seminar was the Declaration of Patients Rights. This was the first time the patients' rights declaration was discussed live in front of an audience. For details about Declaration of Patients Rights, please read our earlier story.  Due to the fact that most attendees had little experience or knowledge about the hair transplant industry, it appeared that not everyone in the audience saw the significance of the declaration. The Declaration was

truly groundbreaking in the industry, but unless you are familiar with some of the existing practices in the industry, few would truly appreciate the importance of the declaration. On the other hand, hair transplant patients who have had strip transplant before may have more appreciation of the declaration than most general practitioners.

CONTROVERSY !

The Woods Technique was surrounded by controversies the very first day it was publicized in the hair transplant industry. In keeping with the tradition, the seminar has had its share of controversies right on the spot. Specifically, there were two strip doctors who attended the seminar under the guise of general practitioners. Dr. Woods and Dr. Campbell had made every efforts to ensure that no invitation would be extended to strip doctors at this particular event. According to the registrant records, these two strip doctors registered themselves as general practitioners instead of hair transplant doctors. There wasn't a huge commotion or anything, but just interesting to note how certain members of the hair transplant industry would go out of their ways in order to attend the seminar.

The afternoon session was open to the public. The session had a great turnout with about 35-50 attendees. The set up was brilliant. There was the main conference room where Dr. Woods conducted his seminar and illustrated why his technique was superior to traditional strip surgery. Dr. Campbell on the other hand conducted private consultations in a separate room. Then there was the lounge area where members of the general public interacted freely and exchanged ideas.

Almost all attendees have had bad transplant work before and this made the seminar all the more informative as people showed each other the results. Throughout the seminar, existing patients of Dr. Woods took turn to go under the spotlight and let everyone examine the work up close.

FRANKLIN !

On a not so pleasant note, plenty showed up with some pretty bad hair transplant works from other doctors. The whole environment was very supportive and people were not shy to discuss their bad experiences. It was almost therapeutic for people to be able to relate their experiences to others who could truly sympathize. It was also apparent that it wasn't just those who have had bad transplants that were suffering, but their loved ones too. Many showed up with their girlfriends, wives and family members

HIGHLIGHT OF THE EVENT!

The highlight of the event was the surprise appearance by a well known figure in the hair loss communities - yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was Timetested !

Timetested made a guest appearance at the seminar and received a warm applause from the audience. Timetested is the author of a well publicized story about his 22+ years struggle with some bad transplant works. Thousands have read about his quest for normalcy and it was quite a treat for everyone to meet Timetested in person. (Timetested's story).

Timetested had started a series of corrective surgery with Dr. Woods and Dr. Campbell in 2001 and he just returned from the Woods clinic about a month ago after a second round of repair work. While most people were admiring Timetested's repair work, they were also discussing with great enthusiasm the body hair transplants that Timetested had undergone. According to Drs. Woods & Campbell, they are the first in the world to clinically prove that body hair can actually take on the characteristics of scalp hair.

Timetested is now among an increasing number of patients who had body hair transplant done from Dr. Woods and Dr. Campbell. Timetested had two sessions of body hair transplants, one utilizing his chest hair and the other his back hair. Nobody at the seminar was able to tell that some of Timetested's scalp hair actually originated from his chest and back. Body hair transplants has given hope to thousands who were previously unable to take advantage of surgical hair transplantation because of insufficient donor hair.

NEVER BEFORE SHOWN VIDEOS !

The seminar was originally scheduled to wrap up at 5 pm but it showed no signs of slowing down despite the passing of the hour. Many lingered to take advantage of this rare occasion where they would not be judged because of some bad transplant decisions they made. It wasn't until around 8 pm when the event winded down.

For more information about The Woods Technique, please visit HairSite's Hair Transplant Forum or www.thewoodstechnique.com

FUE Trivial Question: When & Where was the concept of FUE first publicized?
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