In our continuing effort to focus on the medical professionals in the Florida community, our “To Your Health” feature sits down with Dr. Paul Wigoda, who is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Dr. Wigoda, who was one of the youngest doctors ever to graduate as a fully trained plastic surgeon, was raised here in South Florida. After graduating with his Doctor of Medicine in 1993 from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas he went on to do his residency at the prestigious University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, which has the top plastic surgery program in the country.
In our continuing effort to focus on the medical professionals in the Florida community, our “To Your Health” feature sits down with Dr. Paul Wigoda, who is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Dr. Wigoda, who was one of the youngest doctors ever to graduate as a fully trained plastic surgeon, was raised here in South Florida. After graduating with his Doctor of Medicine in 1993 from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas he went on to do his residency at the prestigious University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, which has the top plastic surgery program in the country. He served as chief resident at the Parkland Memorial Hospital and at numerous hospitals around Dallas. He scored in the top 5 percent in the nation on the national in-service exam which tests plastic surgery knowledge. After completing his plastic surgery training in 1998 he did a one year fellowship in hand surgery and microsurgery at the University of Utah Medical Center. After Utah he made his way back to South Florida to open his practice. He has been named one of “America’s Top Surgeons” by the Consumer Research Council of America from 2001 to the present. It was a pleasure to sit down with this gifted doctor and talk about his practice.
How long have you been in practice?
I started my solo practice in 1999. I have been at my current location at 1404 East Broward Blvd. for 10 years.
Tell me about your staff.
My 2 full time employees are Lucy, who is the office manager and has been with me for 10 years (I call her my boss) and Racquel, “Rocky”, who is my surgical tech and has been with me about a year. I also employ an esthetician, laser technologist, nurses, and anesthesiologists. All of the anesthesiologists are board certified. They perform the anesthesia for all of our surgeries done with general anesthesia.
What does your practice consist of?
My practice is half cosmetic and half reconstructive.
The cosmetic part of my practice is broken into surgical and non-surgical procedures. Non surgical consists of Botox and fillers, which I perform, and laser hair removal, facials and microdermabrasion performed by my staff. The surgical part consists of face lifts, eye lifts, nose jobs, breast augmentations, pectoral implants, liposuction and tummy tucks. All of these procedures can be done in my office since I have a fully accredited operating room. I can do these procedures in a hospital if the patient is more comfortable there or if there were possible health concerns. However, if there are serious health concerns the patient may not be a candidate for elective cosmetic surgery.
The reconstructive part of my practice I perform either at Broward General, Holy Cross, or North Broward Medical Center and often involve work related or auto accidents. I frequently work on major soft tissue injuries to the face, body, and extremities, fractures of the face and hand, reconstruction of the face and even reattaching fingers and hands that are amputated.
Do you offer consultation to discuss patient needs?
Yes, I offer free consultations, where I sit down with the patients and go over all the options and possible risks as well as the realistic outcome.
Do you offer financing?
Yes, we work with finance companies for those clients that prefer to finance the surgery rather than pay upfront. In addition we accept credit cards, checks and cash.
Do you accept all clients?
No, I do not. I have turned down many clients over the years for a variety of reasons, including if I feel they will not benefit from the type of procedure they are seeking, if they have unrealistic expectations, or if they have significant medical issues that would make it too risky. At the end of the day I have to answer to myself and my values and if the surgery is not necessary and I do not feel comfortable performing it, I wonít perform it.
What is your feeling about gay clients?
I have a large gay clientele as I do not discriminate on any criteria.
What are the most popular procedures your gay clientele are doing?
The most popular surgical procedures are liposuction and pectoral implants and for non surgical procedures, it’s Botox, fillers, and laser hair removal.
I know fillers help with wasting for HIV patients. How is that performed?
Ideally I would like to take fat from another part of the patientís body to use as filler, but HIV patients with loss of facial fat tend to not have enough body fat so I typically use Radiesse, which helps tremendously with wasting.
Where is plastic surgery going?
In general, we are always looking to make procedures less invasive and with a quicker recovery. In addition, during this recession, many patients are opting for injectibles rather than surgery even though the goals of the procedures and the results one can expect are not the same. In general, everyone wants to look better, and if they canít afford a larger procedure for now, they will go with a less expensive option.
What’s the philosophy of your office?
We have a very busy practice, but we make all our patients comfortable and we provide them with the best possible service.
To find out more about Dr. Wigoda or his practice and procedures go to DrWigoda.com
To make an appointment call 954-463-7088.
