Written in partnership with DN News Desk
Photo Credit: Dr. Jonathan Kaplan
Plastic surgery has the potential to be a lucrative field. According to Jolene Edgar of Allure, the demand for cosmetic procedures has massively increased throughout the pandemic. Even so, it’s not an easy road to follow. Aside from the professional qualifications, a plastic surgeon has to build and cultivate their clientele. Dr. Jonathan Kaplan is a successful cosmetic surgeon based in San Francisco. In his years in the field, he’s learned many lessons that have allowed him to improve medicine as a whole. He’s responsible for an innovation known as BuildMyBod Health. BuildMyBod Health streamlines the lead generation and customer retention process. He’s also a member of several professional organizations and has been invited to speak at many industry conferences to impart his wisdom to others. Here, we look at his advice to younger doctors wanting to follow in his footsteps.
Keep Your Initial Investment to a Minimum
Dr. Kaplan started as a plastic surgeon at the Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge and spent quite some time there. During his employment in Baton Rouge, he recognized the importance of SEO marketing. Still, since he wasn’t a “master of his own destiny” in this situation, he didn’t consider investing any money into it. It’s only when Dr. Kaplan moved to San Francisco that he started spending money on SEO to market his business. Keeping the initial investment to a minimum, especially when one can’t control how that investment affects their practice, is a good bet. Working at a hospital for that initial exposure is useful. When one finally decides to move, there’s no need to fire employees and liquidate the practice. The hospital handles everything on the business end, so moving on to greener pastures is less complicated.
Learn From Your Work and Join Professional Associations
Dr. Kaplan learned and grew while he worked for the hospital in Baton Rouge, and he advises others to do the same. Eventually, one’s learning curve tapers out and they become skilled in their particular area of practice. He also suggests looking at professional organizations. For a professional who’s looking at establishing a private practice, joining a professional association offers excellent networking potential. Over everything, an individual should always seek to expand their horizons by accepting new challenges. It’s only by remaining curious that a professional will grow into their own.
Stay Independent
Probably the most critical advice the doctor has to offer to those following in his footsteps is that a medical professional should seek independence. Private practice does offer a lot of scope for being independent, but many other medical practice fields have boards steeped in politics and intrigue. For the professional who wants to provide their patients the best they can without having to kowtow to an administration or a board, plastic surgery offers the best tradeoff. This freedom also grants medical professionals satisfaction in their work and helps to avoid physician burnout. The doctor notes that young physicians should find a field that includes all the best things about medicine while simultaneously minimizing the worst.
