Hair Transplant Surgey

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Perrotfish

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Hey all, I'm just curious, do you guys have any recommendations for fellowship/training programs for physicians that want to become hair transplant specialists? I'm going into a career in primary care, and I liked the idea of having an extra, flexible income stream, but I can't figure out if hair transplant is a cosmetic procedure that makes sense as an add-on (like Botox injections) or if its something that only makes sense if you're willing to train for a very long time and then do it as a full time career (which I'm not). Online I've found training programs which range from just a few days, to multi-month part time preceptorships, to full year fellowships, but I can't get any clear sense of how much training someone really needs to practice.

Thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for the help.

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I replied to this a few days ago but Internet went down as I posted and it didn't save what I had written, so will keep this brief.

I spent time with a cosmetic surgeon, lots of hair transplants...

The procedure is simple, local anaesthetic, excision of donor site, harvesting/dissection of hairs/follicles which are then gently placed into transplant sites.

It is common for the surgeon to excise the donor tissue and create the transplant sites, the dissection and placement is carried out by an assistant/scrub nurse.

Although the procedure itself is simple, there're many things that can go wrong, and many patients are not satisfied. Misplaced hairlines, artificial looking hairlines, sparse hair, poor growth, no growth, scarring at the donor site...

Some surgeons love the procedure, as when the patient is unhappy with the results, he is normally told that another 1,000 grafts are needed for a natural looking head of hair = more $ for surgeon for minimal work.

I would say it is an easy procedure to learn, but many that perform the procedure do not understand the limitations. Not all patterns of baldness are suitable for transplants, many would require a flap, and for others there is no solution!

Hope this helps!
 
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I replied to this a few days ago but Internet went down as I posted and it didn't save what I had written, so will keep this brief.

I spent time with a cosmetic surgeon, lots of hair transplants...

The procedure is simple, local anaesthetic, excision of donor site, harvesting/dissection of hairs/follicles which are then gently placed into transplant sites.

It is common for the surgeon to excise the donor tissue and create the transplant sites, the dissection and placement is carried out by an assistant/scrub nurse.

Although the procedure itself is simple, there're many things that can go wrong, and many patients are not satisfied. Misplaced hairlines, artificial looking hairlines, sparse hair, poor growth, no growth, scarring at the donor site...

Some surgeons love the procedure, as when the patient is unhappy with the results, he is normally told that another 1,000 grafts are needed for a natural looking head of hair = more $ for surgeon for minimal work.

I would say it is an easy procedure to learn, but many that perform the procedure do not understand the limitations. Not all patterns of baldness are suitable for transplants, many would require a flap, and for others there is no solution!

Hope this helps!

What fields are eligible to become certified in hair transplants?
 
What fields are eligible to become certified in hair transplants?

It's all about being trained in a preceptorship style format; there aren't AOA/ACGME fields necessary to enter a 'hair transplant fellowship' akin to normal ACGME residency to fellowship routes.

Technically, any field can train in HT and practice. I know doctors who only did an internship followed by a preceptorship in HT surgery, know lots of guys from derm, PRS, ENT, and g-surg who do it; hell, I even know some from fields like rads and ob who moved into it.

I've actually worked in the hair restoration/hair transplant field/alopecia field for around two years now and really love it. I fully intend on performing the procedures after all is said and done, and because of my work, I consider myself knowledgeable on the subject and love talking about it.

If anyone has any further questions, feel free to ask on this thread or send me a PM.
 
I replied to this a few days ago but Internet went down as I posted and it didn't save what I had written, so will keep this brief.

I spent time with a cosmetic surgeon, lots of hair transplants...

The procedure is simple, local anaesthetic, excision of donor site, harvesting/dissection of hairs/follicles which are then gently placed into transplant sites.

It is common for the surgeon to excise the donor tissue and create the transplant sites, the dissection and placement is carried out by an assistant/scrub nurse.

Although the procedure itself is simple, there're many things that can go wrong, and many patients are not satisfied. Misplaced hairlines, artificial looking hairlines, sparse hair, poor growth, no growth, scarring at the donor site...

Some surgeons love the procedure, as when the patient is unhappy with the results, he is normally told that another 1,000 grafts are needed for a natural looking head of hair = more $ for surgeon for minimal work.

I would say it is an easy procedure to learn, but many that perform the procedure do not understand the limitations. Not all patterns of baldness are suitable for transplants, many would require a flap, and for others there is no solution!

Hope this helps!


The procedure you're describing is traditional follicular unit transplantation (FUT), where a strip of hair is removed from the universal donor region (highly resistant to DHT/further balding), dissected under microscopes, and implanted into the incisions made in the balding scalp.

Like you said, it's not an overtly difficult procedure to 'learn' and is actually highly, highly dependent on a very well trained surgical tech staff (in FUT procedures, knowledgeable technicians honestly make or break the procedure) but in my opinion it's not an overly easy technique to perform 'well.' In a field where results and reputations are highly publicized on the internet and patients pay for procedures with cash, it's an easy game to bounce out of quickly. The surgeons who are good have 3 month waiting lists and do very, very well. Others who get into it quickly and maybe don't put their whole heart into it (i.e. maintaining, training, and frequently utilizing a well trained technician staff for FUT procedures) usually don't continue practicing it for too long.

The FUT procedure, although technically still the industry gold standard, is slowly being matched by follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedures (where individual follicular unit grafts are extracted from the donor region and implanted into the balding scalp - avoiding the linear 'strip scar' associated with FUT) and challenged by new modalities - 'hair duplication' techniques, injectable solutions, PRP scalp injections, scalp micropigmentation, etc, and I would recommend that any student/resident looking into entering the field become well versed in these techniques and theories as well!

Additionally, you're correct that not all patients are candidates (which is unfortunate). Many individuals who suffer from diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA) aren't good surgical candidates and would need to investigate other options.
 
It's all about being trained in a preceptorship style format; there aren't AOA/ACGME fields necessary to enter a 'hair transplant fellowship' akin to normal ACGME residency to fellowship routes.

Technically, any field can train in HT and practice. I know doctors who only did an internship followed by a preceptorship in HT surgery, know lots of guys from derm, PRS, ENT, and g-surg who do it; hell, I even know some from fields like rads and ob who moved into it.

I've actually worked in the hair restoration/hair transplant field/alopecia field for around two years now and really love it. I fully intend on performing the procedures after all is said and done, and because of my work, I consider myself knowledgeable on the subject and love talking about it.

If anyone has any further questions, feel free to ask on this thread or send me a PM.
hi jaggerplate,
i am a general surgeon (MBBS,MS) from India.i am interested in pursuing my career in hair restoration.I want to know what all to be done to set up a solo practice of hair restoration?? and whats the cost??...currently i hope to get a training position with a hair transplant surgeon...and one more thing how much one can actually earn in first five years of the practice(actual figures thru your own experience)???
 
Would it be acceptable for anyone to do this procedure (after a special fellowship of course) or is it reserved for only plastic surgeons and dermatologists? I'm very interested as well, but I'm definitely not interested in whole plastic surgery, dermatology or ENT (perhaps choosing urology).
 
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OP: forget about it.

This is not something that can be undertaken lightly. It's not easy to do right, and it's very dependent on highly trained specialized support staff and specialized equipment.

There are certainly people who will train you ( usually dermatologists ). but my understanding is that it's an all-or-nothing practice. It's very equipment and staff dependent. Most of the real work is done by the technicians, who usually work as a team, but the physician has to plan the hairline and the excision, and do the repair, and that takes a certain amount of knowledge and experience.

The Bosly clinic used to send me recruitment letters, but they are looking for general surgeons or vascular surgeons, and their working conditions and salary were not very attractive.
 
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