Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronald M. Friedman, M.D.
Ronald M., can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I became a plastic surgeon due to wood shop class and too much television. I more-or-less randomly enrolled in a woodworking class in junior high school–and fell in love with it. By high school, I was turning jars, carving bowls, and making furniture. When I was 15, I watched a PBS NOVA special on TV featuring a plastic surgeon, Burt Brent, M.D., who had pioneered ear reconstruction by carving rib cartilage–with woodworking tools. I thought to myself, “I bet I could do that.” With my parents’ permission, I traveled to Stanford to watch Dr. Brent operate for a couple days. I had found my calling.
After completing college and med school at Northwestern in Chicago, I became the “guinea pig” for an integrated general surgery/plastic surgery residency at UT Southwestern. Although I had planned to return home to California to practice, I fell in love again–this time with Jin, a Korean Parkland surgical ICU nurse, who is my wife of 23 years. Following a hand fellowship in California and a brief tenure on the UT plastic surgery faculty, we set up our current practice in Plano in 1996.
Over the years, we have gradually transitioned from mostly hand and reconstructive surgery to about 90% cosmetic surgery (primarily breast and body contouring). Jin and I are partners in every sense of the word: from starting a practice to starting a family. Despite the fact that we spend about 16 hours per day together, she still hasn’t tried to assassinate me. I do consultations, injections, and surgery while she does nursing and office management.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No road is ever smooth except in retrospect. When I began private practice, I took hand surgery and plastic surgery call at NINE different emergency rooms throughout the DFW area. On any given night, I might reattach a finger at Presbyterian Dallas, do a facial fracture at Medical Center of Plano, and repair a pediatric laceration at Baylor Grapevine. At age 29, I was the youngest plastic surgeon in the nation, and patients didn’t think I looked old enough to do their cosmetic surgery. Now at age 50, it is bittersweet that no one thinks I look too young to do their surgery anymore.
Building a practice, a patient referral base, an internet presence, and an excellent staff is an ongoing exercise. This is a highly competitive marketplace, and no plastic surgeon (myself included) can afford to become complacent or to give any less than his or her best to every patient every day.
Please tell us about West Plano Plastic Surgery Center.
Ronald M. Friedman, M.D., P.A. specializes in plastic surgery with an emphasis on breast and body contouring surgery and facial injectables. Our most popular procedures include: breast augmentation (about 150 per year vs. a national average of 35 per year among plastic surgeons), augmentation with simultaneous breast lift, breast augmentation revision, breast reduction, nipple surgery, mini and full tummy tucks, liposuction, and mommy makeovers. We are also among the busiest practices in DFW providing Botox, Dysport, Restylane, and Juvederm injections.
Dr. Friedman personally performs every consultation, every Botox and Restylane injection, and every stitch of every surgery. He does not use nurse injectors or “sublease” out any portion of any surgical procedure to an assistant. He also never places his own financial interests above a patient’s best interests; this means never talking a patient into doing a procedure and always prioritizing patient safety. It is no coincidence that we have far lower infection and bleeding rates than most practices, have low reoperation rates, and have extremely high patient satisfaction ratings on multiple review sites.
Our office and surgical staff, led by Dr. Friedman’s wife Jin Friedman, BSN, RN, are experienced, compassionate, and professional. All cosmetic surgical procedures are performed at the West Plano Plastic Surgery Center, our nationally-accredited surgery center conveniently located adjacent to Dr. Friedman’s office on the campus of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Plano.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
All of us would change little things if we had it to do over again. But probably due more to luck than to planning, I think I got the major things right: 1. I chose a career that I find both challenging and fulfilling, 2. I ended up in a great place to live, practice medicine, and raise children, and–most important–3. I married the right person.
Pricing:
- Breast augmentation (saline implants) $5450
- Breast augmentation (silicone gel implants) $6750
- Liposuction under the chin $1750-$2250
- Botox/Dysport $325 for the first syringe (reduced for additional syringes)
- Restylane/Juvederm $540 for the first syringe, $490 for each additional
Contact Info:
- Address: Ronald M. Friedman, M.D., P.A.
6124 West Parker Road, Suite 232
Plano, Texas 75093
on the campus of Presbyterian Hospital of Plano - Website: www.plasticsurgerydallas.com
- Phone: 469-467-0100
- Email: drfriedman@plasticsurgerydallas.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ronald-M-Friedman-MD-PA-485626425577/
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