Relevant Question For Doctors?

[Jack17]

I emailed a doctor close to my area and asked him if he could estimate how many gynecomastia surgeries he performs during any given month. He wrote me back and said "3 to 4 is a good estimate?"

I thought about that and it seemed kind of low. Made me think maybe this isn't a very big focus of his practice and that he might not be the best at it. Do you think that is a relevant concern? Is that a normal amount? Does it even matter how many a doctor performs during any given month?   

 - John

[DrBermant]

I emailed a doctor close to my area and asked him if he could estimate how many gynecomastia surgeries he performs during any given month. He wrote me back and said "3 to 4 is a good estimate?"

I thought about that and it seemed kind of low. Made me think maybe this isn't a very big focus of his practice and that he might not be the best at it. Do you think that is a relevant concern? Is that a normal amount? Does it even matter how many a doctor performs during any given month?   

 - John

Experience can be valuable.  I work with up to 8 gynecomastia patients a day.  However, it is not quantity of surgery, quality is what counts.  That is why I put up many examples of before and after gynecomastia surgery for the many different forms of male breast growth this condition expresses itself.  I put up a section How to Pick Your Surgeon For Gynecomastia here:

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

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia and Male Breast Reduction

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

It is difficult to obtain consistently fine results for gyne surgery unless you do a lot of it.  I often remark during surgery that despite the large number of cases that I do in a year (around 150), each case is different and there are frequently surprises and challenges.  No two cases are exactly alike.

That is why you should try to go to an experienced surgeon. 

This is not life or death surgery -- it is an elective procedure.  You should visit several surgeons, review their photos, discuss their anticipated methods of treatment, find out how many cases they do per year.  And then choose your surgeon based on your confidence and trust in him/her.  Do not base your decision only on the fee -- it is important, true, but there are other factors that should take precedence.  Remember, the best chance for a really good result is with the first  procedure.  If it doesn't turn out right, then secondary procedures are just trying to play catch-up. 

Dr Jacobs

[George Pope, M.D.]

I agree with Dr. Jacobs.  Each case is individual; no two are exactly the same.  Of the 4 cases I performed this past Thursday, the fourth was a gyne case, and it was my most challenging case of the day.  The gyne case I performed before that was relatively easy.  The number of cases performed in any given month isn't as important as the surgeon's ability to handle a problem if/when it arises.  Granted, experience plays a role here and the more cases you do, the more experienced you are.  But after a number of years of practice, a surgeon is qualified if he/she has done a large number of them.  So 3 or 4 in a month for a surgeon who over the years has done many, many of these cases is not really a bad number.  That's more than the number of facelifts that I do in most months, and I'm very good at facelift surgery.  I hope this makes sense.

Be sure you're comfortable with the surgeon, look at his/her before and after pictures, and ask plenty of questions.

Dr. Pope, M.D.

[Jack17]

wow, couldn't ask for a better group of answerers!

thanks doctors, that all makes sense.

[mic777]

I was unlucky enough to pick a bad plastic surgeon.
I thought by the research i had done that it looked like a very easy surgery to perform and i think i took it a bit easy finding the best Dr for the job which i have now paid dearly for.
I have been left with big indentations in my chest under both nipples and even the nipples themself don't look to be symmetrical any more. I only had a minor case of puffy nipples now i have a major case of indented chest!!
However the doctor had many before and after photos of the condition but know i can only assume they were definitely not his work and it would be very easy to get them off the net and pass them as his own.
After the surgery i have been looking at trying to get info on my new problem and come across a video my surgeon has put on you tube which has the same patient in it as a couple other doctors videos also put on you tube!! so its just pirated from one doctors and passed as his own!!
so just be aware of that as well and think how easy it would be to make up a folder of cases you have treated by just grabbing them of the net!!
anyway wish you luck and hopefully you'll make better choice than i did!

[Jack17]

He's also is an associate professor of plastic surgery at the Boston University School of Medicine!

That's gotta be a plus that he's teaching it to other doctors!

[DrBermant]

He's also is an associate professor of plastic surgery at the Boston University School of Medicine!

That's gotta be a plus that he's teaching it to other doctors!

In training centers, the question frequently comes up: who will be performing the surgery?  Every doctor has to learn.  Is your surgeon going to be the actual one you are seeing or will the surgery be done "under the supervision" of that doctor.  In some situations that can be a plus, in others a minus.

Michael Bermant, MD

[Jack17]

Oh wow, I didn't even think of that.

I don't think I want to be some students' first attempt.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Totally agree with Dr Bermant.  If you should have your surgery at a university hospital where there is a plastic surgery training program, there is a possibility that your surgery would be performed by a resident plastic surgeon (who is not a medical student but rather a fully trained physician who has already trained in surgery and is continuing surgical training in plastic surgery).  While I do not doubt their credentials, I doubt that they have the experience of having performed hundreds of gyne procedures.

If you are in this situation, then perhaps you should request that your own surgeon perform the entire operation himself -- there may be plastic surgery residents there to assist and observe him -- and that is fine.

Or you can consider going to a private practice plastic surgeon.

Dr Jacobs