Do you know the difference between a plastic surgeon and a cosmetic surgeon? You might be surprised at the answer.
Plastic surgeons perform operations to change the shape and/or the appearance of part of a patient's body.
A plastic surgeon performs cosmetic surgeries such as nose jobs or face lifts, but they also perform reconstructive surgeries for patients who have injuries from a car crash, burns, or for those with birth defects.
Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the most well known kind of plastic surgery, plastic surgery itself is not necessarily considered cosmetic; and includes many types of reconstructive surgery, craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns.
Rachel E. Scott, MD, who provides both aesthetic and reconstructive procedures, is here to discuss plastic surgeons and what they do to help patients feel better about themselves.
Selected Podcast
What Does A Plastic Surgeon Do?
Featured Speaker:
Learn more about Rachel E. Scott, MD
Rachel Scott, MD
Hendricks Regional Health Medical Group welcomed Rachel E. Scott, M.D., to Hendricks Surgical Associates in July, 2015. Dr. Scott provides both aesthetic and reconstructive procedures, with a focus on breast reconstruction, hands and complex wound care. Scott is a graduate of Earlham College and the Indiana University School of Medicine. She completed her general surgery residency training at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and plastic surgery residency at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. She is board certified in general surgery by the American Board of Surgery.Learn more about Rachel E. Scott, MD
Transcription:
What Does A Plastic Surgeon Do?
Melanie Cole (Host): If you’ve always thought cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery were one in the same, you’re not alone. To clear it up for us today we have Dr. Rachel Scott. She is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with Hendricks Regional Health. Welcome to the show, Dr. Scott. People hear the words cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery – clear it up a little bit for us and tell us what all those terms mean.
Dr. Rachel Scott (Guest): I think the global term of plastic surgery has a lot of misconceptions in the public and even in those who have a little more education. I’ve had many med students come to me that have no idea what plastic surgery is all about. I will unabashedly and unashamedly steal from one of my mentors and tell you that plastic surgeons fundamentally take care of the aspects that make us human. If you think about when you meet someone, you look at them from across the room, you size them up a little bit. Then you go over, you look at them in the face, you shake their hand and you say, “Hi, my name is Dr. Rachel Scott” or whatever your name is. Just in that one section of your life, for those few moments, you have used all of the aspects of your humanity. You have used your eyes to observe the person. You have used your voice to introduce yourself and communicate with them. You’ve used your hand to do our standard greeting of each other. Plastic surgeons take care of all of those aspects of our bodies as well as many others.
Melanie: What a beautiful way to put it. How interesting. Cosmetic surgery – this is elective, generally. What kinds of surgeries constitute cosmetic surgery?
Dr. Scott: Cosmetic surgery--I think we can take a step back and say these are surgeries that we can live without. We can spend all day, every day for our entire lives without having our nose look just that little bit extra perfect; whereas, if you’re someone who has a nose that you can’t breathe through that is something that you can’t live with. I think those are the main differences between the two. There are surgeries that are the icing on the cake, so to speak; ways that we can make ourselves that little bit “better” in our own eyes.
Melanie: When people chose to do something cosmetic and they come to you and they want to do breast enhancement or facial contouring or one of those things, what do you tell them to think about before they make that decision?
Dr. Scott: Absolutely. I think cosmetic surgeries, in a lot of ways, take a lot more thinking and contemplation on both the part of the surgeon and as well on the part of the patient versus some of those more straight forward functional surgeries where you don’t really have much of an option. You have something and you need to fix it. I think that the cosmetic patient really has to be willing to take a risk because they’re starting probably at a pretty good place and there is always a possibility of making it worse. The other thing is that the patient has to look at themselves in the mirror and look at their body or their face, or whatever is being interviewed upon, every day for the rest of their life. What they see versus what the surgeon or their family members or the public sees are not the same. We all interpret them in different ways. I think there has to be a lot of discussions between the patient and the surgeon about goals, about how each of them sees the problem or the perceived problem that they are going to address. There needs to be a long conversation before surgery and it ends up being a long-term relationship oftentimes after surgery as well.
Melanie: You use the word perceived, Dr. Scott. If this is something that just makes somebody unhappy and they are not able to look at themselves in the mirror and be happy with what they see. Do you then tell them that this is something that they need to reconcile? Is this something in their psyche or is this just purely physical?
Dr. Scott: I think that there are times that it may fit into both categories. Certainly, there are patients for whom their perceived imperfection is something that is perhaps related to other events in their life. That’s where the discussion comes in as to whether having the surgery or procedure is really going to make their life better and whether that perceived cosmetic imperfection is something that is really impacting them or whether it is a symptom of a bigger problem that needs some resolution. However, there are certainly patients also who say, “This is just something that has bothered me for a long time and I can go on with my life without having surgery for it but I really feel like my life would be a little bit better and I would feel better about myself.” Even though it is cosmetic surgery and, believe me, there are people who look down their noses a bit at it. Even for those patients for whom you can really make a big difference in their life. While it is not something that’s lifesaving or even life altering it makes the world a better place for them. You can really stand back and see the smiles and even look at pictures and just see that they hold themselves differently from before surgery to after surgery and tell that they feel better about themselves.
Melanie: When we are talking about plastic and reconstructive surgery for burn repair or breast reconstruction after cancer, is there a difference in training between someone who does cosmetic surgery and someone who does plastic surgery?
Dr. Scott: There is and there isn’t. All of us who have obtained proficiency in plastic surgery have had experience and exposure to both the cosmetic world as well as the reconstructive burn world and even hand surgery. However, after the fundamental plastic surgery training, there are options to pursue additional training, both formal and informal, for burn surgery, for cosmetic surgery as well as some more fine-tuned reconstructive surgery options like microsurgery. It is a very long training process and there are a lot of different pathways that you can take both going into it and coming out of the basic plastic surgery training.
Melanie: When you have people that need plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery because of some traumatic event – burns and such like that – as you said before, this is not really elective at all it’s something that they have to do. Is this typically something that is a very long process, very difficult and emotional for people?
Dr. Scott: Absolutely. The role of the plastic surgeon can be even more important than the role of the other critical care physicians and medical physicians that these patients are seeing. Oftentimes we meet these patients in very, very unpleasant and unfortunate circumstances. The plastic surgeon tends to meet them early and the plastic surgeon tends to be the doctor that is one of the last docs that they follow up with after things are all said and done. That goes for trauma as well as wounds and cancer reconstructive surgery. Oftentimes, we will see these patients and follow along with them for the rest of their lives in some cases whereas other surgeons and other docs will come and go out of their lives. The reason for that is simply because it does, oftentimes, tend to be such a complex process and it has so many steps for the patient as well as the need for monitoring and making sure that they’re doing well after the surgical procedures. It certainly does not end when we walk out of the operating room.
Melanie: Dr. Scott, in just the last few minutes, kind of wrap it up for us. Give the listeners your best advice when they are considering cosmetic surgery or they have to go through plastic surgery what you really want people to know, what you tell them when you really want them to know this information and why they should come to Hendricks Regional Health for their care.
Dr. Scott: Absolutely. I think that people need to think of plastic surgeons as a very dynamic head to toe surgeon--everything from burn reconstruction to breast reconstruction to carpal tunnel surgery. The role that plastic surgeons can play, not as a primary care but almost that, where you have a long-standing relationship to take care of the patient as a whole as well as their specific surgical issue. Becoming involved with a plastic surgeon oftentimes will happen for a reasons like a finger fracture or carpel tunnel, but it ends up blossoming into a longer term relationship once that particular injury is resolved. Everyone has a couple wrinkles on their face or a family member who thinks, “Oh, maybe I’ve always thought about having my breasts done.” It can really almost become a family experience. I think that Hendricks Regional Health really offers some great benefits. We’re a growing facility. We’ve gone from a small county hospital that a lot of people would just drive by to go to the big city to now a place that offers a broad array of excellent specialists who have had great training all over the country. I grew up in the area and I am absolutely proud to have come back after having trained many other places and to be able to offer some excellent plastic surgery specialty care.
Melanie: Thank you so much. What an amazing physician you are. Thank you so much, Dr. Scott. You’re listening to Health Talks with HRH. If you want more information, you can go to Hendricks.org. That’s Hendricks.org for Hendricks Regional Health. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
What Does A Plastic Surgeon Do?
Melanie Cole (Host): If you’ve always thought cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery were one in the same, you’re not alone. To clear it up for us today we have Dr. Rachel Scott. She is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon with Hendricks Regional Health. Welcome to the show, Dr. Scott. People hear the words cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery – clear it up a little bit for us and tell us what all those terms mean.
Dr. Rachel Scott (Guest): I think the global term of plastic surgery has a lot of misconceptions in the public and even in those who have a little more education. I’ve had many med students come to me that have no idea what plastic surgery is all about. I will unabashedly and unashamedly steal from one of my mentors and tell you that plastic surgeons fundamentally take care of the aspects that make us human. If you think about when you meet someone, you look at them from across the room, you size them up a little bit. Then you go over, you look at them in the face, you shake their hand and you say, “Hi, my name is Dr. Rachel Scott” or whatever your name is. Just in that one section of your life, for those few moments, you have used all of the aspects of your humanity. You have used your eyes to observe the person. You have used your voice to introduce yourself and communicate with them. You’ve used your hand to do our standard greeting of each other. Plastic surgeons take care of all of those aspects of our bodies as well as many others.
Melanie: What a beautiful way to put it. How interesting. Cosmetic surgery – this is elective, generally. What kinds of surgeries constitute cosmetic surgery?
Dr. Scott: Cosmetic surgery--I think we can take a step back and say these are surgeries that we can live without. We can spend all day, every day for our entire lives without having our nose look just that little bit extra perfect; whereas, if you’re someone who has a nose that you can’t breathe through that is something that you can’t live with. I think those are the main differences between the two. There are surgeries that are the icing on the cake, so to speak; ways that we can make ourselves that little bit “better” in our own eyes.
Melanie: When people chose to do something cosmetic and they come to you and they want to do breast enhancement or facial contouring or one of those things, what do you tell them to think about before they make that decision?
Dr. Scott: Absolutely. I think cosmetic surgeries, in a lot of ways, take a lot more thinking and contemplation on both the part of the surgeon and as well on the part of the patient versus some of those more straight forward functional surgeries where you don’t really have much of an option. You have something and you need to fix it. I think that the cosmetic patient really has to be willing to take a risk because they’re starting probably at a pretty good place and there is always a possibility of making it worse. The other thing is that the patient has to look at themselves in the mirror and look at their body or their face, or whatever is being interviewed upon, every day for the rest of their life. What they see versus what the surgeon or their family members or the public sees are not the same. We all interpret them in different ways. I think there has to be a lot of discussions between the patient and the surgeon about goals, about how each of them sees the problem or the perceived problem that they are going to address. There needs to be a long conversation before surgery and it ends up being a long-term relationship oftentimes after surgery as well.
Melanie: You use the word perceived, Dr. Scott. If this is something that just makes somebody unhappy and they are not able to look at themselves in the mirror and be happy with what they see. Do you then tell them that this is something that they need to reconcile? Is this something in their psyche or is this just purely physical?
Dr. Scott: I think that there are times that it may fit into both categories. Certainly, there are patients for whom their perceived imperfection is something that is perhaps related to other events in their life. That’s where the discussion comes in as to whether having the surgery or procedure is really going to make their life better and whether that perceived cosmetic imperfection is something that is really impacting them or whether it is a symptom of a bigger problem that needs some resolution. However, there are certainly patients also who say, “This is just something that has bothered me for a long time and I can go on with my life without having surgery for it but I really feel like my life would be a little bit better and I would feel better about myself.” Even though it is cosmetic surgery and, believe me, there are people who look down their noses a bit at it. Even for those patients for whom you can really make a big difference in their life. While it is not something that’s lifesaving or even life altering it makes the world a better place for them. You can really stand back and see the smiles and even look at pictures and just see that they hold themselves differently from before surgery to after surgery and tell that they feel better about themselves.
Melanie: When we are talking about plastic and reconstructive surgery for burn repair or breast reconstruction after cancer, is there a difference in training between someone who does cosmetic surgery and someone who does plastic surgery?
Dr. Scott: There is and there isn’t. All of us who have obtained proficiency in plastic surgery have had experience and exposure to both the cosmetic world as well as the reconstructive burn world and even hand surgery. However, after the fundamental plastic surgery training, there are options to pursue additional training, both formal and informal, for burn surgery, for cosmetic surgery as well as some more fine-tuned reconstructive surgery options like microsurgery. It is a very long training process and there are a lot of different pathways that you can take both going into it and coming out of the basic plastic surgery training.
Melanie: When you have people that need plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery because of some traumatic event – burns and such like that – as you said before, this is not really elective at all it’s something that they have to do. Is this typically something that is a very long process, very difficult and emotional for people?
Dr. Scott: Absolutely. The role of the plastic surgeon can be even more important than the role of the other critical care physicians and medical physicians that these patients are seeing. Oftentimes we meet these patients in very, very unpleasant and unfortunate circumstances. The plastic surgeon tends to meet them early and the plastic surgeon tends to be the doctor that is one of the last docs that they follow up with after things are all said and done. That goes for trauma as well as wounds and cancer reconstructive surgery. Oftentimes, we will see these patients and follow along with them for the rest of their lives in some cases whereas other surgeons and other docs will come and go out of their lives. The reason for that is simply because it does, oftentimes, tend to be such a complex process and it has so many steps for the patient as well as the need for monitoring and making sure that they’re doing well after the surgical procedures. It certainly does not end when we walk out of the operating room.
Melanie: Dr. Scott, in just the last few minutes, kind of wrap it up for us. Give the listeners your best advice when they are considering cosmetic surgery or they have to go through plastic surgery what you really want people to know, what you tell them when you really want them to know this information and why they should come to Hendricks Regional Health for their care.
Dr. Scott: Absolutely. I think that people need to think of plastic surgeons as a very dynamic head to toe surgeon--everything from burn reconstruction to breast reconstruction to carpal tunnel surgery. The role that plastic surgeons can play, not as a primary care but almost that, where you have a long-standing relationship to take care of the patient as a whole as well as their specific surgical issue. Becoming involved with a plastic surgeon oftentimes will happen for a reasons like a finger fracture or carpel tunnel, but it ends up blossoming into a longer term relationship once that particular injury is resolved. Everyone has a couple wrinkles on their face or a family member who thinks, “Oh, maybe I’ve always thought about having my breasts done.” It can really almost become a family experience. I think that Hendricks Regional Health really offers some great benefits. We’re a growing facility. We’ve gone from a small county hospital that a lot of people would just drive by to go to the big city to now a place that offers a broad array of excellent specialists who have had great training all over the country. I grew up in the area and I am absolutely proud to have come back after having trained many other places and to be able to offer some excellent plastic surgery specialty care.
Melanie: Thank you so much. What an amazing physician you are. Thank you so much, Dr. Scott. You’re listening to Health Talks with HRH. If you want more information, you can go to Hendricks.org. That’s Hendricks.org for Hendricks Regional Health. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.