Seeking beauty, cutting costs: why so many Americans go under the knife abroad

Unrestricted This thesis is a collection of three newsmagazine-style journalistic articles that investigate the trend of American cosmetic surgery consumers traveling abroad for discounted operations. What follows is the product of dozens of interviews, months of research and a trip to Tijuana, Mexico to interview cosmetic surgeons and their patients.; Section one follows Becki Bozard, 49, a Portland social worker who lost a great deal of weight following a U.S. bariatric procedure and then traveled to Vitoria, Brazil to have excess torso tissue removed.; Section two explores the economic and cultural factors that contribute to the medical tourism trend, as well as the various risk factors it creates.; Section three takes the reader firsthand into the offices of Mexican cosmetic surgeons who operate on a growing patient base of U.S. citizens.; Taken as a whole, the three articles attempt to paint a broad picture of cosmetic tourism and its implications for the future of consumer-driven medical care.

【无限制权限】本论文由三篇新闻杂志体裁的纪实报道组成，聚焦美国整容手术消费者赴海外接受折价整形手术的风潮。本研究依托数十次访谈、数月调研以及赴墨西哥蒂华纳采访整容外科医生与患者的实地考察。
第一部分聚焦49岁的贝基·博扎德（Becki Bozard）——来自美国波特兰的一名社会工作者。她在美国接受减重手术后体重大幅下降，随后赴巴西维多利亚接受躯干多余组织切除手术。
第二部分探讨推动医疗旅游风潮的经济与文化动因，以及该风潮所催生的各类风险隐患。
第三部分带领读者近距离探访墨西哥整容外科诊所，这类诊所的接诊群体中美国公民占比正持续增长。
三篇报道整合而言，旨在全面勾勒整容旅游的整体图景，并探析其对以消费者为导向的医疗服务未来发展的潜在影响。