It's a team effort

Plastic surgeons are generally not known for humility (or understatement I suppose). We are certainly fortunate to be in a unique position, one which is personally rewarding and when done for the right reasons, a benefit to our patients as well. While some dismiss our occupation as catering to the vain, we do help people to lead better lives. You get the point if you have been following my recent posts.
What I want to focus on in this post is the team of people who help it all to happen. To begin with, no matter how much talent a person has, they need teachers who have the interest and special capability to help others along. (When people note the expense of surgery, I explain that they aren’t paying for the couple of hours the operation takes, but the thousands of hours of training and education that precede the event.) It takes a generous spirit to mentor others.
Then of course there is the staff who assist me directly. If they don’t have a caring attitude and dedication, then the patient doesn’t have a good experience no matter how technically successful the surgery may be. I am fortunate to have long-term staff, a few of whom will have been with me for 10 years this summer. Our repeat patients, who may have gone several years between procedures, comment on how great it is to see the same faces when they come back.