I’m sure everyone reading this has moved at least once in their lives, and has gone through the throwing away of extra, unecessary “stuff”. All through our lives it seems “stuff” attaches itself to us with regular, repetitiveness. Those of us with children have it even worse, accumulating even more stuff.
So what does this have to do with plastic, or cosmetic surgery? Well, it seems to me a lot of my colleagues in the field tend to collect even more, and expensive stuff, often trying to keep up with each other, who has the fanciest car, house, clothes, watches, etc. The reason I have always concentrated on maintaining a modest lifestyle, is so that I can avoid these pitfalls of forever chasing after MORE.
My family and I have concentrated on not “wanting” more, not saying we “need” the latest, greatest, or most expensive “stuff” just to keep up with our neighbors. This lends itself to a very important point: I don’t NEED a lot of money, or a high patient turnover, so I get to spend more time LISTENING and CARING for my patients. Each patient literally becomes my most important patients they move through our office, and is taken care of so that this is what they feel, and this makes a big difference.
There are many high volume practices in Los Angeles, and I have worked in them, but no more. I have made a decision not to be like them, not to run a puppy farm, but to treat each patient with the time, respect, and care they deserve. Each one of my patients has direct access to my cell #, and are told they are welcome to call, or text at any time of the day or night. They do not abuse this privilege, as they know I am THEIR surgeon. Just as people do not abuse THEIR car (unlike a rental), they treat me with respect, and care.
I feel constantly privileged to be able to care for a wonderful group of people, and get to touch so many lives, and always hope it will be in a positive, uplifting, and quality of life improving way.
