On February 9, 2003, Professor Song Ruyao, the founder of plastic surgery in China, died in Beijing after a long struggle with lymphoma. The death of Professor Song Ruyao made the American Plastic Surgery Association lose a friend and an international colleague.
Professor Song's career can be described as fruitful. He and his team operated on a large number of patients with cleft lip and palate, and made a detailed study on the blood supply of nose, external ear and flap, so that the radial forearm flap was popularized. Because they realize that patients who have undergone surgical treatment in China often have to travel across mountains and rivers, they strongly advocate one-stage repair and reconstruction. This hospital, established in the 1980s, has also become Mecca (meaning Holy Land) in the eyes of plastic surgeons all over the world.
Although Professor Song retired from plastic surgery hospitals, magazines and associations on 1990, he was still very active in international cooperation and never stopped studying and teaching. On the eve of his death, with the help of his wife, Ms. Chen Nanping, he completed the revision of his textbook "Cleft Lip and Palate Repair".
From his student days in Philadelphia until his death, Professor Song kept close relationship with his colleagues in the United States. He thinks that Dr. Ivey is his first and possibly the most important teacher in the field of plastic surgery. When the Cultural Revolution ended and China reopened its doors, Professor Song welcomed and encouraged the first batch of American plastic surgeons to visit China. 198 1 April, he held an extremely important and historic joint meeting of Chinese and American plastic surgeons in Badachu Hospital. After the meeting, Professor Song also organized a visit to Shanghai for American doctors attending the meeting. Professor Song has visited the United States many times and was warmly received by the University of Pennsylvania, new york University, Harvard University and the University of California, San Francisco. In recent years, Professor Song returned to the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent a year writing a textbook about the first-stage plastic surgery reconstruction.
Professor Song is also committed to the smile train activity); in China. He firmly believes in China's motto: "It is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish", and he is particularly interested in increasing the opportunities for China doctors to learn modern technologies related to cleft lip and palate rehabilitation; 200 1 Professor Song was one of the hosts at the Smile Train Seminar held in Beijing, and former US President George Bush also attended the meeting.
Professor Song is a veritable international plastic surgeon. He is always so polite and chivalrous. He inspires his colleagues with his honesty and dedication to patients and career. Professor Song has played a vital role in rebuilding the cooperation and professional exchange of plastic surgery between China and the United States.
We will always miss Professor Song Ruyao, a burly and amiable friend and colleague from China! "