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Midday queues snake out to the street in an upmarket Shanghai neighbourhood, but it's not lunch at the city's hottest restaurant that people are lining up for -- it's cosmetic "micro-procedures", which are surging in popularity in China
Midday queues snake out to the street in an upmarket Shanghai neighbourhood, but it's not lunch at the city's hottest restaurant that people are lining up for -- it's cosmetic "micro-procedures", which are surging in popularity in China AFP / LAN Lianchao

Cosmetic surgery in the U.S. is considered to be very common these days. Recent reports show that medical providers do more than 15 million cosmetic procedures every year—13 million of which are minimally invasive procedures.

Another report also states that the number of surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures in the country has grown by leaps and bounds over the last ten years—jumping from 1.6 million in 1997 to 5.5 million in 2020. To date, the U.S. tops the list of countries with the largest number of cosmetic procedures for 2020. This is followed by Brazil, Germany, Japan, and Turkey.

In terms of procedures, the top five cosmetic procedures include breast augmentation, liposuction, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, and abdominoplasty. Meanwhile, the top nonsurgical cosmetic procedures are Botox, dermal fillers, Hair Removal, Nonsurgical Fat Reduction, and Photo Rejuvenation.

In line with the growing popularity of cosmetic surgery, the successful practice of Dr. Bill Kortesis, M.D. FACS and Dr. Gaurav Bharti, M.D. FACS tends to offer a different perspective on how they deal with their patients.

Dr. Gaurav Bharti
Dr. Gaurav Bharti Dr. Gaurav Bharti

According to Dr. Bharti, the secret to their successful partnership lies in their efforts to first try to understand what the patients need, evaluate it, and see if it is a perfect solution. “We are doing something that dwells beyond the cosmetic side of things—we analyze and assess if their requested procedure would be a good fit for them.”

Both doctors explain that one’s aesthetic well-being has a massive correlation to one’s general well-being.

“We understand what they are looking to do and advise them if it would be a good match for them,” said Dr. Kortesis.

He further explains that when patients come to see them for a procedure they want, they give us a glimpse of their deep-seated insecurities and advise them on what is best to do next—in doing so, we help alter their trajectory and change the aspect of their well-being.

As Dr. Bharti points out, they sometimes have to turn down procedure requests. “When patient expectations are greater than what we can achieve, then we say NO.”

He adds that being able to advise patients on procedures complements their vision as a cosmetic surgeon, “We want our patients to experience the best outcome, and it is our duty to tell them if we can give them the outcome that they want.”

Both doctors have long been friends—which dates back to their earlier years as struggling medical students at Wake Forest residency in Winston, Salem. They later went into practice together in 2012, and everything has just grown leaps and bounds since then.

Dr. Bill Kortesis
Dr. Bill Kortesis Dr. Bill Kortesis

“We are lucky to be able to do what we can do—being agents of change in the patient’s move to restore confidence and make them feel good about themselves,” shared Dr. Kortesis.

The successful partnership has changed the negative stigma associated with plastic surgery, which has changed quite a bit over the last few years.

“There are still a lot of naysayers as to what cosmetic surgeons can achieve. This is why we created H/K/B Cosmetic Surgery—which offers a high-end patient experience like no other for plastic surgery,” said Dr. Kortesis.

The clinic presents a unique high-end experience to its patients—backed by its expert care and proven track record.

Dr. Kortesis reveals, “We want our patients to receive state-of-the-art aesthetic care, which both Gaurav and I are best at doing together. Our partnership has helped build a successful ecosystem of clinics. To date, we now run five clinics and hope that we will be able to open ten by next year.”

And as things continue to look brighter for the long term, both doctors share the secret to their success—highly advising that “If you do the right thing with the patient, then everything good follows.”