What Every Prospective Patient Should Know When Considering Dr. Cooper

A message from Dr. Cooper: I am board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and an active member of The Aesthetic Society, which is designated for board-certified plastic surgeons who perform cosmetic surgery procedures.

I am a second-generation cosmetic surgeon. When my father was in the heyday of his career, every prospective patient was told to ask whether the plastic surgeon they were considering was board-certified. Board certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery was the stamp of approval. To a certain extent, 30 years later, board certification remains very important. However, there are now so many different cosmetic boards with sponsoring societies that it is challenging to use board certification as a metric of surgeon quality and patient satisfaction.

What makes us unique is that we are a vertically integrated plastic surgery office and surgical facility. That means I perform all surgeries in a private surgical facility that I control and operate. Having complete control over all aspects of the operation—including timing, staffing, instrumentation, equipment, lighting, and recovery—has been a total game changer. I strongly believe that all aspects of the operative process need to be under the control of the operating surgeon. The facility must be set up, staffed, and supplied with a specific focus on cosmetic surgery.

Having started my plastic surgery career at one of America’s top hospitals, Massachusetts General Hospital, I realized early on what it meant not to have complete control and the compromises that resulted. Hence, my singular focus is to be able to do my best work every time I start an operation. It begins with a proper operative plan and realistic patient expectations about our goals for an outstanding surgical outcome. I have a full-time team that is consistent with respect to nursing, anesthesia, and surgical assistance. A consistent team leads to better intraoperative communication through shared experience over hundreds of operations. We strive to be better, and our team understands we must continue this pursuit of excellence to achieve outstanding surgical outcomes for our patients.

I maintain hospital privileges at Jupiter Medical Center. Some surgeons operate in an office setting because they cannot obtain the necessary requirements to perform certain operations in a hospital setting; however, that is not my rationale, nor is it my situation.