The impact that the practice of plastic surgery has on the United States and global economics is undeniable. This entry will discuss the evolution of plastic surgery and its ever-growing influence on the economy and consumer behavior.

Plastic surgery owes its history to Dr. John Staige Davis, who was the first surgeon to devote his entire career to this new specialty at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Davis was the first chairman of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and he published the first textbook on plastic surgery in 1917. Furthermore, he established a formal training program in plastic surgery in 1924. Johns Hopkins, a new medical school established in 1890, had adopted the European model of training, notably the first ­surgery residency in ...