Background and Philosophy

I am a Cosmetic Doctor not a Plastic Surgeon!
My Philosophy and Background
Art, Innovation, Experience, and Safety.


With Dr. Giorgio Fischer

I have been practicing as a cosmetic physician more than 10 years now. I started my own practice doing minimally invasive or non-surgical face and body enhancement procedures including Botox, dermal fillers, laser resurfacing, and liposuction. I personally perform all small or large procedures because I am a perfectionist and an artist. As my practice grew larger, many of my potential patients are asking for my credentials. The intent of this short writing is to clarify my background and my philosophy as a cosmetic physician.

I began my medical career in 1994 as a pathologist in South Korea. I still remember when I discovered a book by Dr. Tina Alster. I was amazed by Dr. Alster’s CO2 laser resurfacing results and her work drew me into the cosmetic world of medicine. After several years working as a professor and director of a pathology department at a major medical training hospital in South Korea, I made a decisive career move. I decided to go to America to study and get trained in cosmetic laser medicine. It was not easy to leave my own country and family, and risk my established medical career in my early thirties.

Even though I had more than sufficient medical training in South Korea, I had to go through a US residency program to practice in US. I had a strong desire for a plastic surgery residency program, but as a foreign medical graduate my training choices were limited. My US residency training was done at the SUNY in New York City and the UCLA/VA Medical Center in the areas of Internal Medicine and Nuclear Medicine. Because my passion was in cosmetic medicine, I attended all kinds of workshops and hands on training by many world renown cosmetic doctors in USA and Korea during my residency training and after my California Medical Board Certification. Because of my pathology background and clinical experiences through residency programs in US, I can excel my practice based on my fundamental understanding of human anatomy and microscopic world of human body.

If someone were to ask me who my hero is, I would say Dr. Giorgio Fischer in Italy. (See the picture below.) He is the father of modern liposuction. He is not a plastic surgeon, but rather a gynecologist. Regardless of his specialty, he invented the modern liposuction technique to improve many unhappy bodies because he had a passion and care for his patients.

I have passion. I have the knowledge and heart to love people. My former patients tell me that I have artistic hands. With my artistic talent and my passion in the cosmetic medicine, I do my best to help my patients. I treat my patients how I would treat my own body. I am very specialized in the areas in which I excel. I continually research and learn more advanced techniques to improve safety and efficacy on my procedures. I earned my reputation over many years of my cosmetic practice. Many of my patients are revision surgery patients from other cosmetic or plastic surgery offices. My countless before and after pictures of my formal clients will tell you my passion, skill, and experience in cosmetic procedures.

My practice philosophy is “Art, Innovation, Experience, and Safety.” Patient satisfaction and the quality of my work is of utmost priority. I put Safety before anything else. Because Safety is my first priority, I never had any misfortunate incidents to report to the medical board of California.

Cosmetic surgery is a fairly modern field of medicine. The area has been shared by many medical specialties including both plastic surgery and non-plastic surgery specialties. Dr. Niamtu, a very respected cosmetic surgeon, wrote a particularly informative editorial addressing the issue as to who should perform cosmetic procedures. It may prove enlightening, feel free to give it a read here: http://www.lovethatface.com/files/2013/04/cosderm8-09.pdf and http://www.lovethatface.com/2011/03/18/please-dont-call-me-a-plastic-surgeon/.