Plastic surgery had its beginning nearly 3000 years ago, when Sushruta, an Indian surgeon, reconstructed the nose by transferring a flap of cheek and then forehead skin. It is a modern field, stimulated by the challenging reconstructive problems of the unfortunate victims of the World Wars. The advent of the operating microscope has thrust the plastic surgeon of today into the forefront of advances in small vessel and nerve repair, culminating in the successful replantation of amputated parts as small as distal fingers and bypassing of lymphatic vessels, only a few millimeters in diameter. Furthermore, these techniques have been utilized to perform the first composite tissue transplantations of both hands and partial faces. The field is broad and varied and this book covers the many areas of involvement and training of today’s plastic surgeons. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is proud to provide complimentary online copies of the Plastic Surgery Essentials for Students handbook to all medical students in the United States and Canada.