Reality Tv Applications

Waiting for a table in the bar of his favorite restaurant, Dr. James W. Wade came to the realization that his chosen profession is in the midst of a monumental change. Just over the shoulder of a bartender, Wade watched with amazement as The Discovery Channel broadcast the intricacies of an actual cosmetic surgery.

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"I told the bartender I wasn't offended by it, but some of his other customers might be," says Wade, who opened his Baton Rouge plastic surgery practice in 1985. "But with the Internet and Discovery and Lifetime, it has revolutionized the approach to cosmetic surgery. I try to explain procedures to patients, but they already know all about it."

Wade has a gaggle of patients wanting to see him. His waiting list for consultation and surgery is running 45 days from the initial scheduling date. To put it bluntly, business is good.

The procedures performed by Wade increased an average of 52% from 2002 to 2003, a statistic slightly higher than national trends, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Nearly all surgeries experienced a boost last year, Wade says: breast augmentation, 21%; liposuction, 64%; face-lifts, 85%; tummy tucks, 64%; eyelid operations, 30%.

"This has been a phenomenal increase, even with me taking off once a week," Wade says, adding that year-to-date figures suggest another jump for 2004.

And since few insurance companies will bankroll cosmetic surgery, Wade is dealing in direct payments--from $3,800 for simple breast implants to $6,200 to rid your face of wrinkles and other indicators of age.

Wade says many people are shocked to learn that 15% of his patients are men and the majority are middle-class soccer moms: "These are working women who have a budget and have saved their pennies."

He credits the recent influx of reality television, jam-packed with makeover stories, for the spike in business, as well as a gradual acceptance of plastic surgery among "normal" people.

"It's not felt to be a folly of the rich and famous anymore," Wade says.

Wade predicts more doctors will soon pick up on these trends and set up shop in Baton Rouge, where 10 physicians are licensed for plastic surgery. He's already looking for an additional doctor for his practice who is certified and carries the same professional background he does, but out-of-state searches have proven difficult.

"No one wants to come here," he says. "They always talk about the politics and the schools. There is one positive factor, though. We have a medical malpractice cap. You never read about Louisiana being a crisis state for medical malpractice problems."

For now, Wade's in-state search may be proving difficult--only one new plastic surgeon has registered with the state since 1994, according to Tracy Mauro of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners--but that is likely to change. The demand for plastic surgeons has not gone unnoticed by medical students.

Applications for two residency spots that open annually at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans has almost doubled since 2002, when 70 people vied for the jobs. This year, Erina Rivarde, residency coordinator at the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, says 130 applied for the two slots.

And at Tulane University, 60 medical students rushed to fill two plastic surgery residency spots earlier this year and 90 have already applied for next year's openings.

"More so now, we're getting a lot of patients calling about procedures," Rivarde says. "So it makes sense that where there's more patients, there'll be more doctors."

While reality TV may be good for the bottom line, not everyone is thrilled about what many see as the televised manipulation of serious surgeries.

Medical professionals have slammed shows like MTV's "I Want a Famous Face," where surgeons try to duplicate the looks of a celebrity on patients, and the primetime hit "The Swan," which stages a beauty contest for women unhappy with their looks prior to cosmetic surgery.

"The new wave of plastic surgery reality television is a serious cause for concern," says Dr. Rod Rohrich, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "Some patients on these shows have unrealistic, and frankly unhealthy, expectations about what plastic surgery can do for them."

Wade likewise says plastic surgery should not be viewed as an avenue to transform an individual's looks or life, but rather as a way to help refine or improve natural appearances. Some reality shows on television today could mislead people into believing that plastic surgery is simple and can be performed by anyone, he warns.

But on the patient side of the equation, he adds, education trumps all, especially with the usefulness of the Internet and some cable television programming.

"It's just like anything else you buy," Wade says. "You research it. Medicine is no different. People are coming to me more educated than ever."

JEREMY ALFORD is a Baton Rouge-based free-lance writer.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Louisiana Business, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

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