Why do people buy fake Rolex watches? Price, obviously. Is there a difference in the product? Yes, obviously. The fake will last a few months and either fall apart or stop working while the real one will probably outlast all of us. So why even spend a cent on the cheap imitation? Rolex has been so successful in creating a quality product and brand that everybody wants to copy them. The same holds true of plastic surgeons. The field of cosmetic plastic surgery is hot, very hot!   We are it, the real thing, the real plastic surgeons-the problem we are facing is the knock-off doctors who want to be us, and compete with us and sell a genuine fake product. Unfortunately the public does not know our brand well enough to know the difference. They think they are getting the real thing and it is too late after the fact. It is one thing to buy fake watch on the streets, it is quite another to think you’re getting a real plastic surgeon and later find out that your doctor is an emergency room physician, a gynecologist or a cosmetic skin specialist doing surgery or someone else who may not have any surgical training at all. This philosophy goes against our own professional Hippocratic oath, first, do no harm. It seems obvious that if you are not trained in plastic surgery, you should not do it. But when money enters the equation, even the most levelheaded physician can come down with a type of heatstroke called money fever and they hang out their faux surgeon shingle.

Just like fake watches, how do you measure the quality? The fake one doesn’t hold up or have a warranty, and there isn’t anyone to fix it when it breaks. The real thing is a piece of workmanship by a skilled craftsman who knows what to do when there are complications or when it breaks. We need to be providing the very best quality for patients and we must demand excellence of ourselves. It is also our responsibility to educate the public and to make them aware of false and deceptive advertising so that they can distinguish a true board-certified plastic surgeon from the vast sea of genuine fakes.

Choose safely, Choose wisely, Choose a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon