Why plastic surgery?

I often get asked this question when people find out what I do.

A lot of impressions of plastic surgery have been formed thanks to the popular media: you know which TV shows, magazines, and websites I'm talking about. People can't imagine why anyone would choose such a vapid life of handing out gigantic breast implants and wild nose jobs, dealing with superficial, looks-obsessed people, and feeding into unhealthy "addictions." And it surprises me when people are surprised to find out that life at Duet Plastic Surgery isn't exactly like what goes on at Nip/Tuck (yes, we are plastic surgeons; yes, there are two of us; yes, we do see patients together; NO, that is where any similarities end). . .

Plastic surgery is an incredible field, and it is a privilege to be a part of it. Neither Dr. Weintraub nor I can imagine doing anything else.

There is such breadth and depth to plastic surgery, which challenges your technical skill and artistic creativity every day. One day in the operating room can offer a remarkable range of stories: a small child who fell off his bike and needs his nose set back in the right place; a young woman who has saved money from all her summers as a nanny so that she can have breast surgery; a mom of two active boys who has lost 40 pounds through sheer willpower and can't wait to fit into "regular" jeans again.

Every day we are inspired by our patients, from the present and the past. Vivid memories of taking care of the tiny Guatemalan baby whose mother shed tears upon seeing her cleft lip repaired, the heartbreakingly charming 6 year old who survived the house fire started by his family's Christmas tree, the stoic young man who needed his fingers reattached after a shop class accident, the ecstatic silver-maned lady whose only regret was that she didn't have her breast reduction sooner.

It is amazing to meet these patients, to get to know them as people, to participate in their lives for a sliver of a moment, but to carry their stories in your heart forever.