Planning 2027: A Guide to Cosmetic Gynecology Training Around the World
A Big Howdy from Arlington, Texas.When I began teaching Cosmetic Gynecology in 2005, a physician who wanted to learn it had very few places to go. Today there are academies, societies, fellowships, Preceptorships, and Congresses on nearly every continent, many of them led by colleagues and Fellows I am thankful to know. Many are good and some are awful. Buyer Beware for sure.That growth is good for our patients and our specialty, and it also makes planning harder. So for this issue of the Newsletter I have put together a guide I hope you will keep: the training programs we know of around the world, organized so you can plan your 2027 training, whether you are just starting in non-surgical care, adding your first surgical procedures, or refining advanced reconstructive and cosmetic work.How We Got Here: A Touch of HistoryA little history explains how this field grew and why so many of today’s teachers know one another. It is a relatively small specialty. It is just about impossible to hide behind the radar. In 2005 in Laguna Beach, California, I began teaching Cosmetic Gynecology Preceptorships at South Coast Urogynecology and through the Alinsod Institute. That teaching became a 20-year Cosmetic Gynecology surgery Fellowship program which birthed many of today’s leaders. My proud Alinsod Fellows. I no longer own South Coast Urogynecology; today the work continues at the Alinsod Institute in Arlington, Texas, at Gynflix online, and live hands on with my Fellows. The cosmetic work grew out of reconstructive surgery. I began teaching pelvic reconstructive surgery in Los Angeles in 1998, through physician courses for gynecologists and urologists on vaginal and pelvic floor repair. Earlier in my career I served in the US Air Force, where I rose to the rank of Major. Then I left in 1994.Over three decades of teaching pelvic reconstructive surgery and two decades of teaching Cosmetic Gynecology, hundreds of doctors have trained with us, one physician or a small group at a time.Many of the techniques I teach began as practical problems in that Laguna Beach office.In-office, no hospital OR. I had been using local blocks since the mid-1990s, and by 2005 our cosmetic surgery was fully office-based. In 2005 I developed the Pudendal-Levator Block and Micro-Tumescent labial anesthesia so that patients could have their procedures awake, without an IV. I shared these methods with every Fellow who trained with us, and many now teach their own versions.Labiaplasty variations. In 2005 I developed the Barbie Look, which removes all or nearly all of the labia minora. It is the most aggressive of my three techniques and is not for everyone. The Rim Look and the Hybrid Look followed as variations of Curved Linear Resection. The names came from patients, who described what they wanted. They are lay terms that just stuck because they were descriptive and simple.Radiofrequency. In 2005 I first used Radiofrequency for precision labial surgery, with a hair-tip electrode. Today I teach with the Soniquence (formerly Ellman) Radiofrequency device and with the LightScalpel CO2 Laser.Other procedures we teach. Labia majoraplasty has been part of our office work since 2005. For almost 20 years I have taught three clitoral hood reduction techniques, the Alinsod techniques, along with the Feathering Revision, in-office perineoplasty and vaginoplasty, and, for about 20 years, anal skin tag removal. Non-surgical procedures came about around 2009 with radiofrequency machines such as ThermiVa, and lasers such as Mona Lisa Touch. None of it happened alone. Each technique was refined by the questions of physicians who came to learn, by colleagues on Congress stages, and by Fellows who carried these ideas home and improved them. Our field has had other pioneers too, some who started before me, some I trained, and some I competed with, and the directory below gives credit to many of them.Where the Work Continues: My Fellows Around the WorldMy Fellows around the world now direct their own programs, teach in their own languages, and add techniques of their own. In the directory you will find Alinsod Fellows Amr Seifeldin in Egypt, João Brito Jaenisch in Brazil, Sejal Ajmera in India, Alexandros Bader in the United Kingdom, Süleyman Eserdağ and Eser Ağar in Turkey, Troy Hailparn and Alexandra Runnels and Michael Goodman in the United States. Rafał Kuźlik in Poland is an Honorary Alinsod Fellow, and Michael Reed in California is a Gynflix Fellow. Each of them has built something of their own, and I am grateful to keep learning from them.Today my only practice is the Alinsod Institute, 4040 N. Collins St, Suite 134, Arlington, Texas, where I have practiced since moving from Laguna Beach in 2023. The teaching continues there for physicians everywhere, through Gynflix.How to Use This Guide in 2027A few suggestions:1. Decide what you want to add this year. Non-surgical and energy-based care, regenerative therapies, first surgical procedures, or advanced revision and reconstructive work each call for different kinds of training.2. Match the format to the goal. Congresses and society meetings build breadth and community. Cadaver courses build anatomy and hand confidence. Live-case courses and one-on-one Preceptorships build judgment in real patients.3. Check what a credential means. Society memberships, diplomas, certificates, and CME or CPD credits are each different things. Ask each program exactly what it awards. 4. Plan for ongoing learning. A course is a beginning. Surgical judgment grows through review, repetition, and mentorship over years.5. Verify before you book. Contacts, prices, and dates change, so please confirm current dates and details directly on each program’s site.The 2027 Directory: Cosmetic Gynecology Training Around the WorldThis directory lists 33 programs in 13 countries, United States first and then international programs by country, A to Z. It reflects public information our team reviewed as of November 1, 2026. Inclusion is not an endorsement, and absence is not a judgment. Where a program’s site could not be confirmed, I say so. Any credit or accreditation mentioned in a listing describes that program’s own offering.United StatesAlinsod Institute for Aesthetic Vulvovaginal Surgery (AIAVS) and GynflixRed Alinsod, MD, FACOG, FACS · Arlington, Texas, and online worldwideHis one-on-one surgical preceptorships for 20 years ended in 2023. Taught in-office, no hospital OR, covering labia minoraplasty, labia majoraplasty, clitoral hood reduction, perineoplasty, vaginoplasty, revision surgery, anal skin tag removal, and reconstructive pelvic surgery, together with non-surgical and regenerative care. His massive collection of surgical videos lives through Gynflix providing video e-learning for physicians worldwide. You feel as if you as sitting just to my left side.alinsodinstitute.com · gynflix.comCosmeticGyn Training ProgramTroy Hailparn, MD · San Antonio, Texas, Matlock Fellow, Alinsod FellowTaught personally by Dr. Hailparn, author of ACOG’s labiaplasty e-module. Four-day labiaplasty and vaginal rejuvenation courses in San Antonio, covering surgery and the regenerative and non-surgical treatments that complement it, or one-on-one training built around what you want to learn, with optional proctoring in your own OR. A caring and detail oriented surgeon who has taught for two decades. Very active teaching worldwide.Cosmeticgyntraining.comLaser Vagi… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cosmeticgynecology.substack.com/subscribe