In 2004,Anthony Youn, MD, had his first brush with fame a three-minutespotonDr.
At the time, he was pursuing a plastic surgery fellowship with his mentor, a star ofDr.
Then his episode aired.
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The next day, Dr. Youn booked 14 new consultations.
Says the board-certified plastic surgeon, My practice exploded from there.
He then pivoted tosocial media, well before it was customary for physicians to do so.
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Still, it wasnt until 2020, whenthe pandemicshuttered his practice, that he fully embraced the medium.
His mock feud with fellow plastic surgeonsRichard BrownandChristian Subbiohas gone viral in aesthetics circles.
They share their work, their patients, and their personal lives.
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They tout their philosophies, techniques, and tricks forrecovery.
They invite us into their exam rooms and operating rooms.
And sometimes…they dance.
Occasionally, this penchant for attention-seeking crosses a line.
Broadcasting surgery may seem taboo, but its entirely legal, assuming the patient has given written consent.
And Grawe was hardly a trailblazer in this realm: Remember the rise of the Snapchat surgeons in 2016?
Nevertheless, when medical problems occur in the setting of a social media performance, the optics are damning.
While plenty of surgeons defy this stereotype, some do embody it.
The social media personalities Jericho describes arent collaborating with peers or lecturing at plastic surgery meetings.
They wouldnt even be invited to those conferences, Jericho says.
He believes certain social media-famous surgeons have contributed to an erosion of decorum in plastic surgery.
By making it look like a circus, they create fear among serious thinkers considering having surgery.
The cringe potential climbs as more and more log on.
In2010, only 30% of plastic surgeons reported using social media to advertise their practice.
By2019, that figure had more than doubled.
It has almost become a professional requirement.
They realize they were wrong.
The analysis shows that doctors with more followers dominate first-page Google search results.
This is no small thing: Google is usuallythe first place people lookfor plastic surgeons.
Dr. Nayak has seen social media trounce conventional forms of advertising.
It didnt make sense to keep them, he says.
These days, by the time most patients see them, theyre already in town for surgery.
Social media success like Dr. Nayaks is hard-earned.
Instagram is where Dr. Nayak has found his fanbase.
He describes his IG following as the nicest, with the lowest percentage of trolls or keyboard warriors.
Dr. Killeen prefers TikTok.
They already know me my personality, what I stand for, how I communicate, Dr. Killeen explains.
They don’t like the traditional, wealthy, playboy plastic surgeon.
Rather, they crave camaraderie and interact freely with doctors who seem approachable and unscripted in their videos.
Google ranking of plastic surgeons values social media presence over academic pedigree and experience.
Most days, Dr. Killeen notes, I just pick up my phone and answer people’s questions.
Let me explain what happened today.
Sometimes, through this digital discourse, the teacher becomes the student.
Im learning from these interactions, says Dr. Killeen.
Jericho, the social media marketer, urges his clients to post about themselves, not just their work.
People are drawn to doctors who mesh with their personality, he says.
Of course, theres more than one way to attract followers.
The document-your-life-all-the-time approach never felt comfortable forGary Linkov, MD.
Clocking millions of views, his long-form videos are educational, with a non-judgy celebrity spin.
Its like fancy gossip, says Dr. Linkov, sort of sheepishly.
You have to be engaging and dress up the information, but Im not a clown on screen.
I have boards to answer to I always keep that in mind.
More than half of Dr. Linkovs referrals now come from social media.
Its all because of YouTube its such a big reach.
As his social media stock has soared, so too has demand for his services.
Dr. Youn is similarly compensated by YouTube as well as TikTok, Facebook, and Snapchat.
Aside from an in-house video producer, who edits his YouTube content, he runs everything himself.
People ask me, How do you have time to do all this?
My answer is: I dont golf.
My hobby is creating content.
In the 90s, some surgeons launched websites, sparking scandal.
In the early aughts, plastic surgery reality shows roused ire for making a spectacle of the speciality.
Then came social media, in all its ethical ambiguity.
Some doctors shy away from social, deeming it distasteful.
Dr. Teitelbaum is on Instagram, but he rarely posts about surgery or patients.
There are exceptions, of course.
Im not a clown on screen.
I have boards to answer to I always keep that in mind.
Other holdouts say the same.
Weve been here forever and were still booked three months out for consults, she says.
Plus, at 57, Im not looking to get busier.
You have to be in tune with social media to be a modern plastic surgeon, he staunchly asserts.
He sees it as a duty.
Says Jericho, the social media strategists objective is to also generate buzz, not just profits.
Were creating awareness, becoming part of peoples conversations, he says.
Theyre like, Oh, my God, did you seeDr.
Karams post the other day?
Were making an impression.
Doctors strive to do this by dropping medical pearls or hot takes.
Controversial topics Are BBLs really deadly?
Is the liquid facelift a scam?
are catnip for the scrolling masses.
They realize they were wrong.
The procedural insights shared by surgeons may be biased, reductive, or fueled by an agenda.
The patient anecdotes, if they glaze over risks and complications, can seem sugarcoated.
If experts arent mindful, their messaging can easily slip from permissive to prescriptive.
In real life, plastic surgery is a nuanced specialty, propelled by debate and opposing viewpoints.
Even if its not not entirely, not universally.
This particularly happens when those MDs boast a Taylor Swift-like charisma and legions of adoring fans.
So, wheres the line?
Adam Rubinstein, MD, a board-certified Miami plastic surgeon, posts directly from the operating room.
He was among the first to Snapchat surgical procedures and prides himself on demystifying plastic surgery for the public.
They need to know what real surgery looks like, he says, not a glamorized version of it.
But not everyone reporting from the OR has noble intentions.
Its when you make entertainment the priority, and education secondary, that things start to go sideways.
Dr. Rubinstein doesnt live stream his surgeries as Dr. Roxy purportedly did.
Dr. Rubinstein says his patients (and their families) appreciate his on-the-table outtakes for the transparency.
In the wake of the Dr. Roxy case, though, some are hesitant to post surgical content.
I wouldnt even suggest it anymore, says Jericho.
It feels a little too risky.
Both ASPS and AAFPRS permit live streaming while stressing informed consent and patient privacy.
During surgery, even the most routine of situations can become critical in a split-second, she says.
The last thing you need is the distraction of a live stream.
TikTok did not respond toAllures requests for comment.
It enforces its policies via human review and automated flagging.
The platform may apply warnings and age restrictions to such content.
Some, like Instagram, flag them as graphic or violent, making you click to continue.
Others, like TikTok, allow blood in an educational context.
A number of surgeons say theyve recently been penalized for such posts.
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