10 Things | February 2014 Plastic Surgery Practice
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Barry M. Weintraub, MD, takes his sweet time with patients
By Denise Mann
Barry M. Weintraub, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York City, can immediately make even the most phobic patient feel completely at ease. His voice is soothing, and he always lets the patient lead before offering any suggestions. In practice for more than 2 decades, Dr Weintraub is known for taking his time with each consultation and each procedure.
He answered some questions for PSP about his practice, his patients, and his impressive patience.
Here’s what else he had to say:
1. What procedures do you perform most often?
Rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, and facelifting.
2. What procedures you perform least often?
Buttock or calf implants.
3. Why?
Bilateral implants in these parts of the body can be fraught with problems of implant movement with resultant asymmetry, and can sometimes be extremely painful for the patient.
4. What is your most challenging procedure?
Cosmetic plastic surgery of the face is the most difficult and allows very little room for error. Facial anatomy is dense, and every few millimeters is a surgical minefield
5. What is your healthiest habit?
Dictating a thorough operative report immediately after a surgical procedure. Absent that, playing tennis and continuing to find ways to win tournaments.
6. What is your professional mantra?
Be conservative in surgery, never cavalier. Be a “thinking surgeon,” not just an expert technician. A less-is-more approach can ensure a path to understated natural beauty.
7. What is the biggest trend you are seeing in practice?
As women feel better about themselves and succeed in the workforce, I have noticed that some are opting to date and marry younger men. This has caused a trend for such women to seek, at an earlier age, rejuvenative surgery of the face, eyes, nose (surprisingly, a well-performed nasal surgery does rejuvenate), as well as breast and body surgery.
8. What was your most shining media moment?
It was an appearance on Oprah some years ago on parental behavior as it relates to teenage rhinoplasty. It is still yielding patients today.
9. Technology you couldn’t practice without?
Regular super sharpening of my instruments, and, of course, my iPhone.
10. What has changed the most in your 29 years of practice?
The Internet. The Internet has opened up whole new avenues of communication for colleagues and patients alike through the written word, voice, and image.
Denise Mann is the editor of Plastic Surgery Practice. She can be reached at [email protected].
Original citation for this article: Mann, D. Slow and steady wins the race: Barry M. Weintraub, MD, takes his sweet time with patients, Plastic Surgery Practice. 2014; February: 34
