Scars are quite common amongst the general population (with a large number of trauma injuries/burns/accidents worldwide), but the public isn't aware of how much of an impact a bad scar can have.
I’ve seen first-hand how debilitating scars can be. Personally, I've sustained burn injuries on my hands when I was in medical school - one was through a bad deep dermal scald burn, and the other was through hot contact with an oven. I remember feeling horrified and traumatised at the level of burns on my hands after the scald burn, and remembered thinking how debilitating the scars would be for me in terms of mobility and dexterity, especially since I wanted to pursue surgery as a career. Luckily for me, my burns were managed quite early on with heavy supervision, which resulted in my scar becoming non-visible and flat after a few months!
I am currently working as a doctor with a strong interest in plastic surgery - my interests lie in burns/lower limb injuries! I really enjoy working with trauma patients and burns survivors, and have been in awe of the current management strategies used to reduce and improve scars in these patients. I hope to be able to pursue my interests in these areas in the future, both professionally as a surgical trainee and in future medical research as well.
