The Truth About Social-Famous Surgeons

Would you see a plastic surgeon who's on TikTok? Instagram? YouTube? Many doctors are amassing major followings, and that’s a scalpel that cuts both ways.

In 2004, Anthony Youn, MD, had his first brush with fame — a three-minute spot on Dr. 90210. At the time, he was pursuing a plastic surgery fellowship with his mentor, a star of Dr. 90210’s season one. After the filming, but before the segment aired, Dr. Youn returned home to Detroit, a rookie surgeon launching a fledgling practice. He spent months attempting to drum up business — “Bringing bagels to family doctors’ offices, giving local talks to the Lions Club, just hoping to get someone to consider me for their doctor,” he recalls. Then his episode aired. The next day, Dr. Youn booked 14 new consultations. Says the board-certified plastic surgeon, “My practice exploded from there.”

No doubt, “you’re going to have plastic surgeons who embarrass our specialty on social media,” adds board-certified Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Kelly Killeen, MD. The cringe potential climbs as more and more log on. In 2010, only 30% of plastic surgeons reported using social media to advertise their practice. By 2019, that figure had more than doubled. The next year, Jericho says, as TikTok took off, doctors joined in droves, eager to engage during lockdown.

Dr. Killeen prefers TikTok. As she’s ramped up her posting over the past couple of years, she’s seen a dramatic increase in patient inquiries that come from the platform. The quality of referrals she gets through TikTok is on par with those generated by her happiest patients, she says, because these newcomers arrive in her office having a sense of who she is. “They already know me — my personality, what I stand for, how I communicate,” Dr. Killeen explains. “I end up with a bunch of like-minded patients, and there’s a comfort level the first time [we] meet.”

She clicks with Gen Z’ers on TikTok, who have “a consistent desire for information and authenticity,” she says. “They don't like the traditional, wealthy, playboy plastic surgeon.” Rather, they crave camaraderie and interact freely with doctors who seem approachable and unscripted in their videos.

Most days, Dr. Killeen notes, “I just pick up my phone and answer people's questions. Or I'm looking a mess right after I get out of the OR, going ‘Oh, my God, I did something cool! Let me explain what happened today.’” Dr. Killeen’s practice,Cassileth Plastic Surgery, employs a social media expert to assist all four surgeons on staff, but she declines those services, choosing to create her own content “quickly and organically.”

Sometimes, through this digital discourse, the teacher becomes the student. “I’m learning from these interactions,” says Dr. Killeen. “I get a window into what people really want to know about procedures, and that helps me be a better doctor.”

Dr. Killeen credits social media with changing the power dynamic between patients and physicians and, above all, humanizing plastic surgeons by showcasing their individuality. Jericho, the social media marketer, urges his clients to post about themselves, not just their work. People are drawn to doctors who “mesh with their personality,” he says. It’s an evidence-based strategy: In a recent cross-sectional study of the top global plastic surgeons on Instagram, personal posts garnered the highest average engagement.

This particularly happens when those MDs boast a Taylor Swift-like charisma and legions of adoring fans. “I always worry that patients, especially young women, are going to sign up for something because they want to be part of that glow,” says Dr. Killeen, and not because they have a real concern to make a change. She aims to dim that glow by using TikTok to reveal the unvarnished truth about plastic surgery, including the “negatives,” like hard-to-hide lip lift scars and persistent lumps from too much fat grafting.

Now more than ever, social media platforms seem to be cracking down on before-and-after photos, particularly those featuring the results of breast and body procedures. A number of surgeons say they’ve recently been penalized for such posts. Aiming to avoid detection, some are abandoning standardized clinical photos — which have long been used to document and analyze surgical outcomes — in favor of patient selfies and immediate “after” shots taken in the operating room. This is just one factor contributing to a dramatic surge in unorthodox and deceptive images online, which Allure will investigate in part two of this series.

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