Category: Board Certification

The ASPS has a code of ethics which prohibits its members from claiming to be the best at anything. We try not to entice patients with false claims, and it would be a very difficult statement to prove. We see “Best Plastic Surgeon” lists in airplane magazines, New York magazine, and even in doctors’ offices mounted on wall plaques. So how do we know who the best is?

In order to become a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon from the American Board of Plastic Surgery, you undergo a rigorous training program followed by a series of comprehensive exams. If you look for the ABPS certificate, you are at least assured of some level of quality. However, I know some genius reconstructive surgeons who can’t do even the simplest of liposuctions.

I have been approached about the list you see in magazines, and am sad to report that they can be bought. Knowing the right PR person or editor can be the key to inclusion as well. I would not want to be a part of that type of list, and if you see my name there do not believe it.

I know many extremely gifted technical surgeons who have no interpersonal skills. Others are poor communicators. Some cannot accept criticism, and yell at and blame their patients for suboptimal results. I know bad surgeons who are geniuses at selling themselves, and even though the results are not perfect, their patients love them.

To me, the best plastic surgeon is the one who makes you feel confident, delivers what he promises, and admits when things are not perfect and stands behind his work. I try to always be the best me I can be, and the best plastic surgeon for my patients.

As a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, I have had the privilege of taking care of the Hispanic community for 20 years in my private practice, Yager Esthetics. I have always considered patient safety my number one concern, and have never done an unnecessary procedure to earn money, or sold a service, product, or procedure that I did not feel was of benefit to the patient.

Additionally, I often have patients who want multiple surgeries, and feel doing it all at once is best. That is not always true. You must consider the health of the patient, additional risks of a combined procedure, as well as the positioning and discomfort during the recovery process. For example, a healthy, normal weight, young person can do an abdominoplasty with liposuction of the flanks. If they wanted fat transfer to the buttocks, this would be separate, as to get the proper result from a fat transfer, you need to sleep on your stomach and not sit for a week. This is impossible to do after a tummy tuck. Sitting on a special pillow is not, in my opinion, the best or safest option.

Some patients have risk factors due to age, weight, or medical history. I always suggest separating procedures for safety concerns, often consulting with the patient’s primary care doctor. These are elective surgeries, and every effort to reduce risks should be made.

One of the hesitations I hear is that separating the procedures is more costly, and this is true. You are paying the operating room fee and anesthesia fees twice. In an effort to keep you safe, I have changed my policy so that if you schedule and pay for your multiple procedures and I decide to separate them, you will pay the same as if it were all done together.

That is what I call putting safety ahead of money.