I complain about the state of medicine on a daily basis. The inevitability of Obama Health Care dictating the practice of medicine, ignorance of TORT reform and dwindling physician reimbursement are ominous prospects. However, as I sit to write this piece, I am again reminded that there is nothing that I would rather do than be a New York City Plastic Surgeon and practice medicine in Manhattan. Aspiring to become a physician stems from a deep internal drive to help our fellow man. I doubt that you can find a medical student anywhere ?that is in it for the money?. It is not until life forces and extenuating economic influences grab us by the throat that income becomes a concern at all. Deep down we all still have the altruistic drive that directed us to medical school in the first place.
The practice of plastic surgery is indeed a privilege within medicine. It is truly the most general of all specialties, addressing disease processes affecting our patients from head to toe. We are afforded the opportunity to treat physical deformity resulting from disease processes, such as cancer, infection, traumatic injury and birth defects, as well as, psychologic inadequacies that stem from physical appearance that doesn?t fully conform to societal norms and acceptance of aging. A breast augmentation performed on a woman preoccupied with her small breasts since adolescence may seem inconsequential in the grand scheme of life, but the self image strengthening that occurs as a result of that breast augmentation is a very powerful force. The subsequent contributions made to society by the patient with such newfound self esteem are immeasurable and under appreciated by critics of cosmetic surgery. Similar psyche benefits are experienced by men with gynecomastia repair, tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) patients, nose surgery (rhinoplasty) patients, aging individuals rejuvenated by eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), facelift and/or brow lift and those whose bodies are recontoured by liposuction. The reward for me, as the treating New York City Plastic Surgeon, is just as immeasurable and just as powerful.
Plastic Surgery in New York City is an entity unto itself. Just as in the financial, business, and marketing worlds, we are at the forefront and the epicenter of plastic surgery. By shear number, New York City probably has more plastic surgeons than any other city in the United States. Only the large population keeps the per capita number in check. As new technologies are developed, we are among the first to have access to them. As new procedures are introduced, we are among the first to perform them. As new standards are created, we are among the first to implement them. As a practicing New York City Plastic Surgeon I am afforded the privilege of having my finger on the pulse of this ever evolving and exciting subspecialty of medicine. I consider it an honor every day of my life.
