Dr Michele Koo: 5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Career As A Plastic Surgeon
An Interview With Luke Kervin
You need humility: most patients obviously have no medical background and rely on me for a detailed explanation of the process. I remind myself that we all are specialists in our own fields, and this is not my patients’ expertise. It is incumbent on me to be humble and understanding.
As part of my series about healthcare leaders, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. Michele Koo.
Dr. Michele Koo, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, St. Louis, Missouri and Aspen, Colorado has an exceptional eye for detail. She is meticulous in achieving your perfect individualized result. “I believe in customizing each individual procedure and putting you in balance aesthetically,” she says. “My love and desire is to help you achieve your cosmetic goals. Plastic surgery is NOT one size fits all.”
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! What is your “backstory”? What led you to this very interesting career?
Early on, I was drawn to medicine because of its infinite learning loop. I always knew I would pick surgery over medicine because I wanted to create meaningful change in a short period of time. Plastic surgery was the perfect combination of patient empowerment through impactful change.
I wanted to empower those who felt constrained by a physical attribute they couldn’t themselves change. What better career than Plastic Surgery?
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Some of my most interesting plastic surgery stories center around my transgender patients undergoing gender affirmation surgery. I feel privileged to be a part of their struggle and emergence to becoming a more holistic unified person in body and mind. They are some of my most tortured, depressed patients but in the end, some of my happiest and most grateful.
While plastic surgery cannot make you happy, changing your face or body and becoming the person you feel you were meant to be can be extremely uplifting and freeing. This also applies for my patients who may have discomfort with their new bodies after children or certain facial features since birth. It is all about empowering yourself!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
As a medical student on a urology rotation, I was told by my attending to go to the waiting room to bring the patient’s wife into the exam room where her husband was in stirrups about to receive his ureteroscope. My attending said hurry up, I need to finish this procedure and I want to explain a few complications to his wife.
I ran into the waiting room, saw only one woman and said come with me quickly. I brought her into the exam room where the patient’s lower half was exposed and he was behind a sheet. My attending started to talk to the patient asking his permission. When the attending asked the woman if he had her permission also, the patient leaned his head around the sheet,…. and said embarrassingly, … “that isn’t my wife.”
I had brought in a complete stranger into the exam room assuming it was the patient’s wife!!!!
Lesson learned: never assume anything, always ask for a patient and family’s identity!!!!!
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now?
I founded Dr Koo Private Practice Skincare in 2021, a 100% clinically pure skincare line that uses minimal plastic packaging and is dedicated to minimizing our waste and carbon footprint. Our ethos is ingredients so safe, and formulas so thoughtfully created that we can claim pregnancy safe, minimal waste and eco-friendly by-products.
As a founder of another personal care product, where cosmetics and skincare take up one-third of our landfill, it is my responsibility as a physician to decrease the use of plastic containers and protect the health of my consumers just like my patients, hence the name Dr Koo Private Practice.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My Mother, who instilled me with love and confidence, that being a geek was cool and I could do anything I wanted to do…and not to take crap from anyone along the way!
Is there a particular book that made an impact on you? Can you share a story?
Dune by Frank Herbert for the imagination and that all things are possible.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I truly hope I have been a good role model for my son and two daughters and all young women: you can be a surgeon, mother, wife and entrepreneur with a social conscience. That you can use your fortunate position to act responsibly and help others less fortunate. I hope I have shed some light on the importance of purity and safety in skincare ingredients for both our health and our eco-system.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant to you in your own life?
“You get more from honey than vinegar.” From my husband Richard Lehman who is an Orthopedic Surgeon. As the Founder of a startup in an extremely crowded space, I truly rely on this life quote to achieve so much with so little!
Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Career As A Plastic Surgeon’’ and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- You need to LOVE talking to people: there are many days I explain the same thing 500 times slowly in digestible chunks. This can become old and very trying but I re-set, realize that this is the FIRST time my patient is hearing this and it can be quite frightening. You must love talking to people and not let the repetition thwart your empathy.
- You need humility: most patients obviously have no medical background and rely on me for a detailed explanation of the process. I remind myself that we all are specialists in our own fields, and this is not my patients’ expertise. It is incumbent on me to be humble and understanding.
- You need to be extremely patient: to execute a delicate plastic surgery procedure, you need to be quick but never in a hurry. You have to be willing to undo and redo something if it is not exactly as you would prefer. The results always show your impatience.
- You need to know when the enemy of good is better: this is when a decisive surgical plan is essential. Once you know you have a great result, you need to stop trying to make it better. That ability to know when to stop is crucial and comes with examining and re-examining your results in post operative photographs over a long period of time.
- You need to LOVE what you do: I 1000% LOVE talking to my patients and delivering results that improve their lives in a meaningful way. I tell my patients, thank you for letting me participate in your self-care empowerment journey!
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a plastic surgeon? Can you explain what you mean?
MYTH #1: Aesthetic plastic surgery is unnecessary and vain: changing something which has nagged you for a long time is incredibly freeing. It can change your daily outlook and self-confidence! When you feel better about yourself, you feel better about most things. This is self-care, emotionally and physically. “I want you to own plastic surgery, don’t let plastic surgery own you.”
MYTH #2: What plastic surgeons do is glamorous: it is hard sometimes tedious work and takes an unbelievable amount of hand holding of sometimes a fragile patient that is undergoing a very stressful and difficult time in their life. This additional emotional external pressure with sometimes unrealistic expectations can set up an explosive doctor-patient relationship. I often support my patients psychologically and surgically the entire way. This can be exhausting.
MYTH #3: Plastic Surgery, Plastic Surgeons can make you happy: I must set realistic expectations with my patients for outcomes and the recovery time. No matter how good the outcome, an over- critical unhappy person will never be happy! The unexpected length of recovery, scars, and discomfort can sometimes be overwhelming for some patients. I must determine if each patient can sustain that journey otherwise, I will not accept them as a patient.
MYTH #3: Popular Surgical Trends are effective: NO NO NO sometimes they are marketing gimmicks and quick fixes. They will cost you time, money and discomfort and may give you the results you seek. Quick fixes rarely work and you may end up returning for the actual procedure you need to change what you want, eg, lipo-freeze, skin-tight procedures.
MYTH #4: What you see on Social Media, what celebrities are doing is what you need also: NO NO NO. Again, more is not always better and what is good for the Kardashians may not be good for you. Take your time to do your research and find a plastic surgeon that is YOUR advocate not the advocate of their pocket book!
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
MINIMIZE unsafe volatile ingredients in paint, skincare, cosmetics and cleaning products!! We ingest and place toxic ingredients on our skin every day. We breathe volatile organic chemicals every day inside and outside our home. Our skin is our first defense against internal DNA damage that can lead to cancers and diseases. If we can regulate and minimize toxic ingredients into our waterways and in the products we use, I truly feel our incidence of many diagnoses such as autism, skin cancers, organ cancers, ADHD would lessen!
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)
Journalists: Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey — the two journalists that broke the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse and harassment article for NYTimes! The courage it took from the whistle blower and the belief from these two women in her story to pursue and dig out the truth should be commended. I would love to sit and hear their journey of gaining the facts and trust of the whistle blowers.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
My blogs on health and wellness on www.drkooskincare.com, @Drkooprivatepractice
Thank you so much for these wonderful insights! We wish you continued success.
