How skilled is skilled enough?

[artichokeheart]

I've found a doc who is not a plastic surgeon but is the head of the surgery department in Shanghai. He published a case report 2 years ago about his method of endoscopic excision. He has worked on ten patients with favorable results. This is an impossible question to answer, but at what point do I trust him as an experienced surgeon in this field? Does it generally take dozens of times or hundreds of times? As all docs have to start somewhere, at what point does one feel comfortable and confident performing this surgery?
I understand it all depends, so this is a personal opinion.
Thanks again to all the doctors on this board.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18503380

[George Pope, M.D.]

I would still recommend a surgeon trained and board-certified in plastic surgery over any general surgeon for gynecomastia repair, head of department or not.

Dr. Pope, MD

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Totally agree with Dr. Pope -- nothing takes the place of 100's of cases.

Dr Jacobs

[artichokeheart]

Thanks gentlemen. I am confident now to not pursue a surgery in this part of the world at this time. I wish it wasn't this way, but I know I have to wait to get back to the states or elsewhere to get this done. I needed the last prod to push me off this hasty, hairy trail.

[Dr. Cruise]

Experience is everything.  Gyencomastia correction is no differnet than anything else in life... the more you do, the better you are.  Your results will be based on the level of experience your plastic surgeon has. I would highly recommend seeking a plastic surgeon who performs a minimum of 1 gynecomastia procedure every 2 weeks for at least 5 years.  Most of the posting surgeons here perform well in excess of that, because they have taken a deep interest in the care for the gynecomastia patient. 

[DrBermant]

I've found a doc who is not a plastic surgeon but is the head of the surgery department in Shanghai. He published a case report 2 years ago about his method of endoscopic excision. He has worked on ten patients with favorable results. This is an impossible question to answer, but at what point do I trust him as an experienced surgeon in this field? Does it generally take dozens of times or hundreds of times? As all docs have to start somewhere, at what point does one feel comfortable and confident performing this surgery?
I understand it all depends, so this is a personal opinion.
Thanks again to all the doctors on this board.

I have posted how to pick a gynecomastia surgeon here on this forum:

http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=16474.0

Comfort of a surgeon at offering surgery comes in many different levels. I work with up to 8 gynecomastia patients a day and have been sculpting male chests now for decades. However it is not number of cases alone, it is the quality of the sculptures, how they move, how they appear from multiple angles, how pain free patients are after surgery, how much bruising / swelling, return to activities, and many other factors that can play important roles in quality of surgery. It is the constant evaluation and analysis of such details and evolution of techniques that makes a good surgeon constantly challenge himself / herself to improve.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
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