1.How
was your doctor trained in liposuction? Was the training obtained at
a medical school or university? Was the training accomplished with another
doctor or professor? If so, where and how long was the training and
where is the certificate or documentation that verifies that training?
2. How
many liposuction procedures has your doctor performed? What is the average
number of areas treated?
3. Is
your doctor fully covered by a malpractice company for liposuction procedures?
If not, why?
4. How
long does it take most of the doctor’s patients to recover or return
to work following liposuction?
5. Does
the quoted procedure cost include the operating room, materials, and
anesthesia
charges?
6. What
is the doctor’s rate (% chance) of "touchup" or "refinement" procedures?
What is the cost of a "touchup?"
7. Has
your doctor had any malpractice lawsuits? This fact can usually be discovered
by an attorney if you want to double-check the doctor’s response.
In Florida, this information can be found online at http://www.floridamalpractice.com
(click on the link for "malpractice information").
Note: Even though Tumescent
liposuction is a relatively new surgical procedure,
only taught for the last 10 years in medical residency training programs,
the majority of surgeons performing liposuction in practice today did
not learn the technique in a formal residency training program (formal
training in a medical school or medical center lasting over one to two
years). The author is one of only a few physicians in South Florida
trained in the tumescent technique at a formal residency training program
at a major medical institution (University of Pennsylvania). Again,
many, and likely still, the majority of surgeons performing liposuction
today learned the procedure at three-day "cram" courses or by viewing
videotapes; these surgeons cannot see what they did wrong, for example,
taking too much fat, because patients do not return for 1 and 6 month
follow-up evaluations in videotapes or weekend courses.
8. How
much pain or discomfort do the doctor's patients feel at all stages
of the procedure? When is pain or discomfort usually the worst?
9. Which
liposuction technique(s) does the doctor use? How long has he/she practiced
this form(s) or technique(s)? What experience does the doctor have with
other techniques?
