Lifestyle of Plastic Surgeon??

[HEME-ONC]

Can anyone tell me the lifestyle and starting salaries that plastic surgeons make these days.
Thanks

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[Gfunk6]

Watch Nip/Tuck on Fx.

In short: very good.

 

[Tristero]

No offense, but anyone who thinks Nip/Tuck is an accurate portrayal of plastic surgeon lifestyle/salaries is a damned fool.

 

[franklinthedog]

What about taking call? Are there practices that have their own surg. centers hence negating hospital call? Is it common to have mult. plastic surgeons in the same office to alleviate the workload?

What about Dr. Rey on E (Sunday Nights, called "Dr. 90210")? I doubt his practice is too close to the avg. plastic surgeon but what do I know...anyone have any answers?


One more thing, has anyone ever heard that surgeons lose their skill after their early 40's. Someone from China once told me that there (in China) people don't like to see surgeons past this age due to decreased skill. Sounds off to me, if plastic surgery is at all like art, there are many artists who create great works into their 70's.

Thanks in advance.

 

[rotty1021]

I've interned for a plastic surgeon who works three days a week in SoFla, then spends the rest of the week in the midwest. He owns two mansions, antique cars, and lives quite comfortably.

Plastic surgeons in Miami have it going good for them.

 

[Winged Scapula]

One more thing, has anyone ever heard that surgeons lose their skill after their early 40's. Someone from China once told me that there (in China) people don't like to see surgeons past this age due to decreased skill. Sounds off to me, if plastic surgery is at all like art, there are many artists who create great works into their 70's.

Thanks in advance.

Its usually 50+ that is the "conventional wisdom" on when surgical skills start to decline, but obviously there's a great deal of variability. 40 seems a tad early to me - not only because I'm already there but because most PRS in the US don't even start practicing until their mid 30s (after med school and residency training).

 

[Winged Scapula]

What about Dr. Rey on E (Sunday Nights, called "Dr. 90210")? I doubt his practice is too close to the avg. plastic surgeon but what do I know...anyone have any answers?
Thanks in advance.

While flipping through channels I happened to catch a couple scenes of this guy. All I have to say is that he'd better make some good coin for all the Aqua Net he's plastering his hair with.

 

[boostlogic]

No offense, but anyone who thinks Nip/Tuck is an accurate portrayal of plastic surgeon lifestyle/salaries is a damned fool.

I agree somewhat. I wouldn't base the lifestyle/income of a Plastic Surgeon off of a TV show. Salaries can vary GREATLY, especially in Plastic Surgery.

The thing is, on Nip/Tuck, they portray the characters as two surgeons that are among the best at what they do, so they can charge an arm and leg for their services.

*EDIT: Sorry for reviving a dead thread.

 

[chop]

More specifically, what is the lifestyle of a community plastic surgeon?? (i.e. one who is hospital-based, but not in an academic hospital system, and not doing cosmetics) Also, what sort of case mix could one expect to see as a community plastic surgeon? Is it all breast reductions and skin lesions, or can you do free flaps and hand surgery as well?

Thanks in advance for all replies.

 

[Deuce 007 MD]

More specifically, what is the lifestyle of a community plastic surgeon?? (i.e. one who is hospital-based, but not in an academic hospital system, and not doing cosmetics) Also, what sort of case mix could one expect to see as a community plastic surgeon? Is it all breast reductions and skin lesions, or can you do free flaps and hand surgery as well?

Thanks in advance for all replies.

I can tell you guys about my father gs(columbia), & is prs (cornell) w/fellowship in hand. He did make 450k a year before taxs and malpractice was paid for by kaiser. He works mon-fri, leaves in the morning around 8 am gets home for dinner around 6 pm, but about 1-2 nights a week he gets home really late around 10 pm or is on call. About every other weekend he works one day of the weekend. He told me he does alot of breast recon, and mangled hands, but I'll ask him for more details and well repost.

Owns 1mil dollor house one block from beach in Calif. and another 600k house inland, put 4 kids threw college, 2 threw grad school, and 2 threw med school (me currently in), without us having to take loans. Bought my sis a BMW the day she graduated from med school, hoping he'll buy me a 6 series when I graduate . Takes about 4 vactions/conferances a year, went w/him once to a plastics conferance in acapulco, man it was phat, total life style of the rich and famous, everything at the resort was all inclusive and it was a tax right off.

He just retired at 65 and collects 9k net a month from his pention, but is now also a part time attending at the UCI va hospital in long beach. I'm not sure what they are paying him at UCI but he said he is doing it cause sitting at home with my mom is driving him crazy.

 

[Energon]

I can tell you guys about my father gs(columbia), & is prs (cornell) w/fellowship in hand. He did make 450k a year before taxs and malpractice was paid for by kaiser. He works mon-fri, leaves in the morning around 8 am gets home for dinner around 6 pm, but about 1-2 nights a week he gets home really late around 10 pm or is on call. About every other weekend he works one day of the weekend. He told me he does alot of breast recon, and mangled hands, but I'll ask him for more details and well repost.

Owns 1mil dollor house one block from beach in Calif. and another 600k house inland, put 4 kids threw college, 2 threw grad school, and 2 threw med school (me currently in), without us having to take loans. Bought my sis a BMW the day she graduated from med school, hoping he'll buy me a 6 series when I graduate . Takes about 4 vactions/conferances a year, went w/him once to a plastics conferance in acapulco, man it was phat, total life style of the rich and famous, everything at the resort was all inclusive and it was a tax right off.

He just retired at 65 and collects 9k net a month from his pention, but is now also a part time attending at the UCI va hospital in long beach. I'm not sure what they are paying him at UCI but he said he is doing it cause sitting at home with my mom is driving him crazy.

What Kind of paperwork do I have to fill out so that I can be adopted...bro?

 

[chop]

Any thoughts from the administrators regarding my previous post???

 

[GSresident]

I'm not an administrator but I am rotating through a community hospital right now. There is a plastic surgeon here who seems very happy. This is a community of about 100K people or so. Today he has 2 different skin lesion cases, a breast reduction and a carp tunnel release. That is pretty typical for what he does. He ends up doing a lot of hand like trigger finger release and stuff like that. I have been here 2 and a half months and I have only once seen him in the hospital after 8PM. I am rotating with community general surgeons and I have only once been out of the hospital before 9 PM. The one time when we consulted him at 2 in the morning it was for a hand injury and he just said put some ice on it and I'll see it in the morning. He doesn't do much cosmetic and I think that is because of the town, not because he couldn't do it. He seems very happy. I don't know how much he makes but I am sure he is very comfortable for the amount of work he does. As far as starting salaries, that really depends. Starting out you won't do much cosmetic anyway because those cases will get snatched away by your senior partners unless you hang your own shingle, but even then it will be hard going. Most of the guys I have seen go out and have a salary of like 150 to 160 the first year and of course it goes up astronomically after that depending on your particular arrangement. If you want the big bucks you have to do cosmetic, because stuff that people really need doesn't pay worth a crap. In the city where my home institution is located, I know of several busy plastic surgeons who pretty much only do cosmetics and only in surgicenters, so no hospital call, no trauma, no nights, no weekends etc. Every single one of them pulls in the 7 figures, not 6 figures. But then you have to live with the stereotype of just being in it for the money etc. Its basically up to you depending on how you want your practice to work.

 

[doctor135]

1) Where do you guys think would be a good place to be a plastic surgeon?
A busy place like Miami, or a place where there are little or none plastic surgeons?

2) What city do you think is the best?

 

[thenavysurgeon]

realistically,

competition for cosmetic cases in a big city is a huge challenge...you're not going to exit fellowship, set up shop in Miami and start making $$...you'd get crushed. Its all about marketing...you need to find a growing community, without a lot of cosmetic surgery competition, move in, and create a market for it...

TNS

 

[littlebrowncute]

what is the best colleges 4 plastic surgery and wat is the starting salary per year and what is the required years for college lik i have researched it and i know its 4 or more but i would lik to hear rom some people and not a website

 

[Stare Decisis]

Today I was told that plastic surgery is a lot of work for little money, but I suspect that is where most medical specialties reside at the moment. Most of the fellows looking for jobs are getting starting offers around 200-250k, this is lower than anes., cardiology, ortho, neuro,radiology, uro. By now you get the idea that plastic surgery is not the cash cow that people think that it is. Not only that, but I have heard craniofacial fellows cannot even find jobs in their specialty of interest. Some have even told me that the plastics starting salary is lower than ER docs (who do not typically take call, work 35 hrs weekly, and have 15 shifts per month). It appears that the sacrifices required by medicine/surgery are only worth it if you really enjoy what you are doing. On top of that, plastic surgery is the most competitive specialty and you have to work really hard to match.

To directly answer your other question, the big programs can be found on this website and the list looks something like: UTSW, NYU, Pitt, Wake Forest, stanford, Mich, and harvard. There are some others and with a quick search you will find them

 

[tajlansell]

According to me starting salaries for doctors who are general practitioners may seem like a lot, especially in certain parts, but there are some factors that automatically reduce these salaries. In addition to their salaries, most plastic surgeons who work for health check organizations such as hospitals receive refund. These usually include paid vacation and sick days.