Ten days after the procedure, Gary flew to Asia for a three-week business trip. When he returned, co-workers thought he'd shed a few pounds during his travels. Workplace Envy G ARY IS PART of a new breed of high-powered professionals who have the money and desire for plastic surgery, but who don't have the time. Dr. Noodleman and his partner, Dr. David Harris, fit into the corresponding movement of doctors who are stepping in to fill the market demand with abbreviated, one-stop cosmetic surgery procedures. Dr. Dean Kane, who heads up Mercy Medical Center's plastic surgery department and was formerly president of the Maryland State Plastic Surgery Society, has observed this trend in plastic surgery centers everywhere.
Plastic surgeons have an increasingly younger and busier clientele.
They have increased discretionary income but decreased discretionary time. And with younger patients, they actually need less radical surgery. Dr. Kane attributes the drop in age among plastic surgery patients to aggressive marketing by doctors who are flocking to the field. A lot of medicine now is being managed by HMOs and the pay is getting worse. Physicians are looking for other avenues to supplement their incomes.