1 answer
A'Nyah
Student
Memphis, Tennessee
2
Questions
Asked
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How is it being an plastic surgeon ?
How is it being an plastic surgeon ?
#plastic surgeon #surgery
1 answer
Thomas Sutherland
Associate Continuity and Recovery Specialist, CBCP
207
Answers
Detroit, Michigan
Updated
Thomas’s Answer
"Things I Love About Plastic Surgery
If you couldn’t already tell, I’m enamored with plastic surgery. The diversity and variety you’ll experience in plastics are second to none. Additionally, it’s the most innovative field in medicine. Period. Much of it seems to be science fiction.
If you like precision, meticulousness, and obsession with details, plastic surgery may be a good fit. No other specialty obsesses over the most precise way to close an incision to optimize healing and minimize scarring. In medical school, I found myself reading books on how to suture or tie better knots while everyone else was more concerned with their shelf exams. If you’re the type of person to take interest in such detail, plastics is probably for you.
Pay is more variable than other specialties, and no, you aren’t guaranteed to be driving around in a Ferrari or Lambo. Recon, especially in academic settings, doesn’t pay nearly as well as aesthetic practices. That being said, you’ll still have quite a good lifestyle, as compensation is above average, most surgeries are not urgent, and call isn’t so bad. However, if you do choose microsurgery or handle face trauma, your call will be far more taxing.
Lastly, changes in healthcare and reimbursement are worrisome to attending physicians of all specialties. Luckily for plastic surgeons, they always have the option of going to a cash-based aesthetic practice, thus granting them immunity to possible decreases in reimbursement on a systemic scale.
Things I Don’t Love About Plastic Surgery
No specialty is perfect, and plastic surgery is no exception.
In terms of personalities, plastic surgery is a mixed bag. While it’s a diverse field, the prospect of making millions as an aesthetic surgeon attracts a small number of trainees who are more concerned with money and appearances than actual substance.
I’m going to teach you something that most doctors don’t even know. There’s a great deal of confusion with plastic surgeons versus cosmetic surgeons, and this isn’t so much a problem with plastics as it is a problem with branding. If you wanted to get cosmetic work done, you should go to a board-certified plastic surgeon. Plastic surgeons are the masters of all cosmetic procedures, as they’ve gone through at minimum 6 to 8 years to earn their distinction of being board certified in plastic surgery. Cosmetic surgeons, on the other hand, do not have rigorous standards for training. I’ve seen non-surgical doctors of various specialties, from OB-GYN to anesthesia, emergency medicine to primary care, and more touting themselves as cosmetic surgeons after completing a weekend course on how to do botox. They obviously have no business doing any cosmetic procedures, but greed is a powerful force. It’s dangerous quackery like this that gives cosmetic surgery a bad rap and results in the horror stories of patients having severe complications or even dying.
There’s also a common misconception that plastic surgery is a highly creative and artistic field. Don’t get me wrong, compared to anything else in medicine, it definitely is, especially if you go into aesthetics. You are incorporating the art and science of beauty into your surgical treatment. That being said, it’s not like you can go in and creatively wing it and do something new. For any defect or goal in treatment, there are only a few standards of care to choose from that have tolerable risk profiles and high rates of success.
Who Should Become a Plastic Surgeon?
Plastic surgery isn’t for everyone, but how can you know if it’s right for you?
First, make sure you actually enjoy the bulk of plastic surgery. I wasn’t personally in love with burn, but everything else was so incredibly innovative and cool. Shadow more than just one plastic surgeon, as the field is so diverse and varied. Scrubbing into a microsurgical case will feel entirely different than doing aesthetics or even craniofacial.
In terms of personality, you should be comfortable with almost painfully precise attention to detail and meticulousness. If the thought of mastering the art of suturing bores you, or you prefer to use staples in closures – which is blasphemy to a plastic surgeon – then look elsewhere.
Lastly, you have to be willing to work your tail off. Plastic surgery is so insanely competitive that if you’re allergic to hard work, you might as well look elsewhere. That doesn’t just mean top grades in class, but also crushing your standardized tests, having multiple publications, a strong personal statement, and killer interview skills.
But you don’t have to go it alone.
At Med School Insiders, we’ve distilled our expertise into a systematic and repeatable process that delivers results. Using these same principles, I got a 99.9th percentile score on my MCAT, full tuition scholarship to a top medical school, aced my USMLE, was prolific in research with over 60 publications and abstracts, and matched into the ultra competitive specialty of plastic surgery.
As you know, I’m a firm believer that systems produce results. That’s why my team and I at Med School Insiders obsessed over how to become the best admissions consulting and tutoring company for future physicians. At Med School Insiders, our mission is to empower a generation of happier, healthier, and more effective future doctors. From medical school or residency application help to crushing your MCAT or USMLE, we’ve got your back. And our results speak for themselves. We’ve become the fastest growing company in this space with the highest satisfaction ratings."
By Dr. Kevin
-https://medschoolinsiders.com/medical-student/so-you-want-to-be-a-plastic-surgeon/
If you couldn’t already tell, I’m enamored with plastic surgery. The diversity and variety you’ll experience in plastics are second to none. Additionally, it’s the most innovative field in medicine. Period. Much of it seems to be science fiction.
If you like precision, meticulousness, and obsession with details, plastic surgery may be a good fit. No other specialty obsesses over the most precise way to close an incision to optimize healing and minimize scarring. In medical school, I found myself reading books on how to suture or tie better knots while everyone else was more concerned with their shelf exams. If you’re the type of person to take interest in such detail, plastics is probably for you.
Pay is more variable than other specialties, and no, you aren’t guaranteed to be driving around in a Ferrari or Lambo. Recon, especially in academic settings, doesn’t pay nearly as well as aesthetic practices. That being said, you’ll still have quite a good lifestyle, as compensation is above average, most surgeries are not urgent, and call isn’t so bad. However, if you do choose microsurgery or handle face trauma, your call will be far more taxing.
Lastly, changes in healthcare and reimbursement are worrisome to attending physicians of all specialties. Luckily for plastic surgeons, they always have the option of going to a cash-based aesthetic practice, thus granting them immunity to possible decreases in reimbursement on a systemic scale.
Things I Don’t Love About Plastic Surgery
No specialty is perfect, and plastic surgery is no exception.
In terms of personalities, plastic surgery is a mixed bag. While it’s a diverse field, the prospect of making millions as an aesthetic surgeon attracts a small number of trainees who are more concerned with money and appearances than actual substance.
I’m going to teach you something that most doctors don’t even know. There’s a great deal of confusion with plastic surgeons versus cosmetic surgeons, and this isn’t so much a problem with plastics as it is a problem with branding. If you wanted to get cosmetic work done, you should go to a board-certified plastic surgeon. Plastic surgeons are the masters of all cosmetic procedures, as they’ve gone through at minimum 6 to 8 years to earn their distinction of being board certified in plastic surgery. Cosmetic surgeons, on the other hand, do not have rigorous standards for training. I’ve seen non-surgical doctors of various specialties, from OB-GYN to anesthesia, emergency medicine to primary care, and more touting themselves as cosmetic surgeons after completing a weekend course on how to do botox. They obviously have no business doing any cosmetic procedures, but greed is a powerful force. It’s dangerous quackery like this that gives cosmetic surgery a bad rap and results in the horror stories of patients having severe complications or even dying.
There’s also a common misconception that plastic surgery is a highly creative and artistic field. Don’t get me wrong, compared to anything else in medicine, it definitely is, especially if you go into aesthetics. You are incorporating the art and science of beauty into your surgical treatment. That being said, it’s not like you can go in and creatively wing it and do something new. For any defect or goal in treatment, there are only a few standards of care to choose from that have tolerable risk profiles and high rates of success.
Who Should Become a Plastic Surgeon?
Plastic surgery isn’t for everyone, but how can you know if it’s right for you?
First, make sure you actually enjoy the bulk of plastic surgery. I wasn’t personally in love with burn, but everything else was so incredibly innovative and cool. Shadow more than just one plastic surgeon, as the field is so diverse and varied. Scrubbing into a microsurgical case will feel entirely different than doing aesthetics or even craniofacial.
In terms of personality, you should be comfortable with almost painfully precise attention to detail and meticulousness. If the thought of mastering the art of suturing bores you, or you prefer to use staples in closures – which is blasphemy to a plastic surgeon – then look elsewhere.
Lastly, you have to be willing to work your tail off. Plastic surgery is so insanely competitive that if you’re allergic to hard work, you might as well look elsewhere. That doesn’t just mean top grades in class, but also crushing your standardized tests, having multiple publications, a strong personal statement, and killer interview skills.
But you don’t have to go it alone.
At Med School Insiders, we’ve distilled our expertise into a systematic and repeatable process that delivers results. Using these same principles, I got a 99.9th percentile score on my MCAT, full tuition scholarship to a top medical school, aced my USMLE, was prolific in research with over 60 publications and abstracts, and matched into the ultra competitive specialty of plastic surgery.
As you know, I’m a firm believer that systems produce results. That’s why my team and I at Med School Insiders obsessed over how to become the best admissions consulting and tutoring company for future physicians. At Med School Insiders, our mission is to empower a generation of happier, healthier, and more effective future doctors. From medical school or residency application help to crushing your MCAT or USMLE, we’ve got your back. And our results speak for themselves. We’ve become the fastest growing company in this space with the highest satisfaction ratings."
By Dr. Kevin
-https://medschoolinsiders.com/medical-student/so-you-want-to-be-a-plastic-surgeon/
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