{"id":1117241,"date":"2025-12-17T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1117241"},"modified":"2025-12-17T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T11:00:00","slug":"you-could-get-a-50000-facelift-for-less-than-half-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1117241","title":{"rendered":"You Could Get a $50,000 Facelift for Less Than Half-Price"},"content":{"rendered":"
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COST CUTTING<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

You Could Get a $50,000 Facelift for Less Than Half-Price<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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The catch is that a plastic surgery resident or fellow will be holding the scalpel. Could it still be worth it?<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Jolene Edgar<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Getty Images\/ Ingrid Fowler<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Everyone loves a deal. But there are certain products and services in life where it could be, let\u2019s say, less than optimal to shop for the deepest discount. Engagement rings come to mind. Criminal defense attorneys. Shellfish. And most people would probably add plastic surgery to the list. The old adage, \u201cyou get what you pay for,\u201d carries a particular sting when it comes to your face or your body. And yet you may have noticed some social feeds recently touting a specific kind of aesthetic bargain, for example this TiKTok about influencers getting discounted plastic surgery from surgical fellows at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.<\/p>\n

After talking to plastic surgeons at every level\u2014from residents and fellows to board-certified surgeons\u2014I can confirm that this is a legitimate and longstanding medical practice occurring not just at Lenox Hill, but at teaching hospitals and academic institutions all over the country. Plastic surgery fellows routinely operate at discounted rates in the process of advancing their training and honing their aesthetic skills. Patients of all stripes can take advantage\u2014the opportunity isn\u2019t exclusive to social-media somebodies\u2014and there\u2019s nothing unsavory about it.<\/p>\n

Historically, though, \u201cfellows\u2019 clinics\u201d were something of an insider\u2019s secret, my sources say. \u201cIt was known within the hospital community that there was this program where you can have surgery done at a lesser cost, but a fellow does the procedure,\u201d explains J. Madison Clark, MD, chief of the division of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at UNC Chapel Hill, director of the department\u2019s fellowship program, and chair of the fellowship committee for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS). \u201cThe nurses would talk amongst themselves to find out which fellows had good hands, and then a nurse who might be ready for a facelift would schedule with that fellow.\u201d But recently, thanks largely to social media, word has spread beyond hospital walls. On the heels of the aforementioned TikTok, Dr. Clark\u2019s office fielded multiple calls from people asking how much his fellows charge for a facelift. In the 10-year history of the fellowship, this is the first time he\u2019s ever received such inquiries.<\/p>\n

While many fellowships do offer substantial price cuts\u2014on the order of 50% or less of the particular surgery\u2019s going rate\u2014\u201cI don\u2019t want to give the impression that it\u2019s dirt cheap,\u201d says Mark G. Albert, MD, program director for the Aesthetic Surgery Fellowship at Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital (MEETH), a division of Lenox Hill Hospital. In light of the attention his program has received of late, he says, \u201cI think it’s important to set the record straight\u201d about both the costs involved and the quality of care at these clinics. But first\u2026<\/p>\n

What exactly is a \u201cfellows\u2019 clinic\u201d?<\/div>\n

For starters, \u201cthese are not medical students experimenting on you,\u201d says Dr. Clark. Fellows are full-fledged, licensed plastic surgeons who\u2019ve graduated from accredited residency programs and thus have completed their formal training. But instead of going straight into practice, they\u2019ve chosen to devote an extra year to learning the nuances of aesthetic surgery, specifically. \u201cThey’d otherwise be out in the community operating, but they’re seeking the highest level of training possible,\u201d says Dr. Albert.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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While each fellowship has its own flavor (MEETH emphasizes facial surgery, for example, where other programs may focus on breast and body), they\u2019re all designed to offer an intensive deep dive into aesthetic surgery under the mentorship of some of the biggest names in the field. A surgeon who scores a top fellowship \u201ccan get, like, a 15-year head start on anyone who goes straight into practice out of residency,\u201d says Faryan Jalalabadi, MD, a fellowship-trained, board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills.<\/p>\n

Surgeons generally play a dual role in fellowship. In the early months, they\u2019re observing in the operating room and helping to care for their program directors\u2019 patients. When they scrub in on a senior surgeon\u2019s case, they\u2019re assisting\u2014holding the retractor, cutting sutures\u2014but they\u2019re not typically doing any portion of the procedure unless the patient has consented to it, which is pretty rare. \u201cIf a plastic surgeon is charging $100,000 for a facelift, the person having it done is going to expect that surgeon to be their [only] surgeon,\u201d notes Dr. Clark. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to have the quote-unquote medical student doing any part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n