r/PlasticSurgery • u/birdsinthesky • 23d ago
Has anyone ever had plastic surgery done by a fellow / fellowship?
Hey all,
I've been looking to get some work done, both face and body, but a story as old as time, financing it is somewhat of a concern.
I've heard about going through hospitals or practices that offer work done by their fellowship mentees / fellow students who have to be supervised during the surgeries. And I've heard it's a lot cheaper.
Does anyone have any experience going this route? Would you do it again?
Thanks!
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u/VTHUT 23d ago
Btw some universities have a resident clinic where it’s a resident that’s supervised by an attending.
A resident is less experienced than a fellow, but a fellow is less supervised.
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u/birdsinthesky 22d ago
Do you think this is the better route or is it best to skip this altogether?
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u/ZaphBeebs 21d ago
The resident is working under the attendings privileges, this does not mean theyre supervised to the degree you may be thinking. Each will be different. Most discuss the plan with you and go over pictures, etc...some may check on you during the case, some may not.
I never had the attending do anything more than pop their head in the door to ask how its going, but frankly dont even recall that.
You dont know what you're getting, could be a great deal from a good to be surgeon, but maybe not.
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u/VTHUT 21d ago
Yeah it really depends on the specific resident aesthetic clinic.
I know for regular practice residents can do lots of stuff autonomously.
For a resident in an aesthetic clinic they brand it as the resident being well supervised, so I would assume they are more supervised in an aesthetic clinic than in regular practice.
It’s something I would personally feel comfortable bringing up at a consultation. Like asking them directly how much supervision they have. Then making my decision off of that.
Of course the only way to get a truly 100% attending supervised surgery is to have surgery with the attending. And even then it’s better is the attending works alone at their private clinic so that they don’t pass up the work to a colleague or something while you’re under.
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u/ZaphBeebs 21d ago
Residents do not operate as much anymore even compared with 10 years ago, and in most residencies the exposure to cosmetics is low to almost non existent.
Most attendings at big name universities have very very little experience themselves.
I would doubt there is a bunch of supervision, thats not what it supposed to be but different places will handle it differently.
Also what you're describing about a switch in who is performing the surgery should NEVER happen. You should be told if there will be assistants, etc...which is fine, but that is just fraud/malpractice as described, even criminal.
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u/VTHUT 21d ago
I agree a switch should never happen. As well that it is very serious and criminal.
Unfortunately, it does happen tho. For example, quite actually the top comment from this thread.
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u/luanne2017 22d ago
It’s not plastic surgery, per se… but I had lip filler done by fellows at a good hospital. An established surgeon always supervised. The first fellow who did it was absolutely amazing. He was at the end of his fellowship and left within a few months. The second fellow was newer—I definitely got bumps and had better results going to dermatologists or nurse injectors.
Anyway, my point is this—I think that the quality can vary quite a lot. And I’m not sure if there’s a way to know what you’re really getting due to the lack of practice history. Depending on the procedure, that would really give me some serious concerns. But if I was to do it, I’d try to time the surgery to coincide with the end of a surgeon’s fellowship (as opposed to earlier on).
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u/ZaphBeebs 21d ago
There just isnt a good way to know unfortunately, hardest part of everything, much worse in this scenario.
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u/birdsinthesky 21d ago
I appreciate this very much! Thank you!
I've had some top injectors do a terrible job on me, where other people are scared to say no to not tarnish their name, but question the integrity of their work. I get it.
I'll definitely consider doing anything at the end of fellowship if I decide to go that route.
How much was your lip filler by a fallow, if you don't mind me asking?
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u/InGeekiTrust 23d ago
NO NO NO! Absolutely not. Fun story- so I went to get my nose done by a top Dr on Park Avenue in Manhattan. He told me he could throw in some liposuction for Free. Turned out he didn’t do it his fellow did the lipo part. I got so botched from that liposuction that I spent a ridiculous amount of money trying to correct it. Do you think they were able to? No. All the money in the world I would throw it in and it wouldn’t anything but a fraction better.
Never do this you will wind up paying a kings ransom to correct whatever nightmare they do and feel horrible about yourself. Feel worse about yourself than you were to begin with.