Robert M. Bernstein, MD

I have been seeing Dr Bernstein for around 10 years. My hair was receding and thinning on top. He explained to me that a transplant would not be a solution because my hair is very thin ("You won't be happy with the results") so we used finasteride and minoxidil (liquid form). The hair loss did stop but I did not get regrowth. In the past two years I have taken oral minoxidil and I recently visited Dr B and he was able to show me that I have now some regrowth on the top of the scalp. This is a very satisfactory (as well as cost effective) result. So I am very happy and will continue with this treatment. Dr Bernstein is always a pleasure to encounter. Last time he even took some time to explain to me why I should take prednisone in the early morning for an autoimmune disease I have. Quite an education!

Outstanding experience with Dr Bernstein back in 2015. The procedure was a great success and the results still show today. Throughout it, Dr Bernstein and the team are real experts and took excellent care of me from pre-op through to post-op and beyond.

I had an excellent experience with 2 procedures here. One in 2019 and 2021. The doctor is caring, answers all questions, and in a league of his own.

His staff are compassionate, professional and hands on. My family use him and I would not even look elsewhere.

Thank you Dr Bernstein and Team.

I had a great experience very fair and honest man I had consultation first laid everything out I knew exactly what was gonna happen Felt very relaxed and confident The price was great also compared to others

Dr. Bernstein and staff are very helpful, pleasant, knowledgeable, show patience you will not normally see at any doctors office, and above all the doctors and staff make you think as if you are their only patient. 25 days ago I had my 2nd FUE. The first was done in 2004. This one was a bit more challenging than the first restoration. and the strip removed much longer than the first strip 12 years ago. I was a real baby and called Dr. Bernstein's office a couple of times a week with questions and concerns about the healing process. Never once did they have an attitude issue or not respond with an answer within minutes. I am fortunate to have met and used Dr. Bernstein on my first FUE. He is one of the most caring, empathetic, professional doctors I have ever had the pleasure meeting. There are very few doctors walking this earth that give a home phone and a cell phone number. A BIG THANK YOU to the entire team.

After speaking with a plastic surgeon and trying both Propecia and Rogaine, I started looking into hair transplant surgery.
After doing some research, I scheduled a consultation with Dr. Bernstein. His office was really beautiful and the staff were all understanding and discrete, which was great because I didn’t want to make a big thing out of this. In the consultation, Dr. Bernstein asked me about my hair loss, about when it started, the meds I took to combat it, what I could expect from hair transplantation, the difference between FUT and FUE, how many hairs I would need, how the transplanted area would age, and a million other things. I know this is a bit ridiculous to say, but he really impressed me. I understand that some people are looking for someone to take care of them as they ask these, admittedly delicate, questions, but I was just looking for an expert surgeon who could answer all my questions, who wouldn’t try to sell me on anything, and who wasn’t biased toward either FUT or FUE. Bernstein fit the bill.

After another consultation and a few months of deliberation, I was in the operating room, ready to get an FUT procedure. Bernstein and his team were very nice and told me what I could expect. There was a huge T.V. in the operating room and they asked me if there was anything I’d like to watch – I actually don’t even remember what I was watching now – but I told them and before long, I was walking back out of the office (it turns out I was in there for around 6 hours).

It has only been 10 days so I can’t really report on the quality or the hair growth or how it looks, but I can say that Bernstein and his staff were excellent. It was a very easy operation and the recovery has not been that bad (though I did experience some significant swelling). Looking forward to seeing the results!

I had a hair transplant at Bernstein Medical and I'm thrilled with it. My hair in the front and on the sides was thinning and it really affecting my confidence. A close friend who is a physician recommended Dr. Bernstein and so I visited his office in NYC. He had an easy way about him and obviously knew his stuff. I could tell he was giving me his best, honest advice and that made me sure that he was the surgeon I wanted. The procedure itself was a breeze. The staff had me feeling comfortable and Dr. Bernstein explained what they were going to do, which was exactly what we had discussed. I was pretty surprised at how painless the surgery was. There wasn't much discomfort after the surgery either, and I followed Dr. Bernstein's post-op instructions to a "T" because he said that would give me the best results. Before long, you couldn't tell I had a hair transplant! It was just a matter of letting it grow in. When it did grow in, I was so happy. The results were exactly what I had hoped for and how he had described it. Now I look in the mirror and smile. It is such a great feeling knowing that the procedure helped me get my life back. No more stressing over the weather or covering my hair. The best part is that my stylist couldn't tell that I had a hair transplant, and she's seen it all. Thank you Dr. Bernstein.

Disclaimer I: this is a long waited-on review for more over a year since I was searching for a hair transplant(HT) clinic & later then since I visited this clinic for the first time for a consult, but I just wasn't interested or into writing reviews but to see an extremely beyond hard to be paralleled success not acknowledged well is a call of obligation to me personally no matter who's involved or what's at risk, it's only just to me I believe. Plus & of equivalent importance too, I wanna help other future people who are thinking about HT with my personal experience & the best I can “just as I benefited from what’s out there too”. I have zero benefit from writing this & don't have whatsoever interest nor intention to be biased or deviated a hair from absolute objectivity as possible, but I admit ahead that I completely admire & am utterly impressed by the surgeon he is, & clearly my experience with him had affected me & pushed me to be a better version of myself as possible & I'm saying this in case that sounds already biased to anyone so they don't waste their time continuing reading this never-enough-space to give him credit & just go proceed with their lives or their already preconstructed non-negotiable perceptions & beliefs & that's a right preserved to all but it's encouraged for all of us to always at least try to keep an open mind about everything so we're not limited by our own haumanily-flawed choice or ignorance. Disclaimer II: A little background about me to help understand why I’m serious and passionate about this particular matter, I come from a men-dominant society and a culture of absolute masculinity where until near time guys were looked down onto if they asked for a spoon to eat with, where the use of hair products for guys is still laughed upon, where slightest deviations from the “expected norms” & “conformity” in any regard could easily provoke questions & endless trivial rubbish, so for me to reach a decision of restoring my utter vanity, to actually go to a clinic, having an actual operation & paying so much could be perceived negatively by some “even some very rounded & close family members expressed such thing”, so it meant hugely to me that the choice is right, won’t ever give me any regrets & the results by itself will stand enough in the faces of these possible speculating clowns without any further need of me to add something, & also most importantly that EVERYTHING WILL look natural, the highest esthetically pleasing & forever & causing no future issues. Also, my Hx of hair loss problems dates back exactly to 2004 when for the 1st time I visited the most competent facility in my city but was given Propecia & instructed to wait for more years since it’s early back then, after that a series of random visits to various doctors in France and Switzerland followed with basically similar results.
Disclaimer III: I'm writing this now after a year from my 1st & only originally one planned surgery(Sx) & at the same time also 5 days after my 2nd sx that he immediately offered to me free of charge "on the house" as he said unsolicitedly & to my utter surprise after less than a minute of looking at me on my one-year follow-up appointment less than 3 weeks ago. & at this point here I must make it clear that yes honestly I wasn’t “completely” satisfied with the results but he offered that before I have ever given him any indication of that or showed any signs of contemplating another procedure, he just simply judged it himself & appeared to be not completely satisfied “I guess, I’m not speaking for him maybe he actually has a very different reason, but this is my best personal explanation”, so this is for anyone who might say yes because it wasn’t a good job from the start, fact is no it was successful & it appeared to be needing a “re-visit” which could happen & is clearly stated beforehand. & I’m almost near sure that if it wasn’t any other surgeon there will be long talks about “still waiting on it”, “it’s only been less than a full year”, “it looks good & if you look at yourself when you first came in here bla bla bla..”, if not with the slightest tones of blame/accusation of being just too picky or have done something wrong yourself etc.. So I’m writing this review while my head is completely zero shaven & red-dotted but this does absolutely nothing in affect of my unshakeable judgment on the scientific mind Dr. Bernstein is & I’m so confident about how it will turn out to be.
Anyway here's my review: Can the word "pioneer" be topped? I genuinely can't understand & won't understand someone who can read independent, peer-reviewed testimonies on his works & prints on the profession & still doubt "let alone talk down" his clinical skills & knowledge/medical judgement/work ethics/abilities & professionalism. Googling anything under his name "even if that isn't an enough strong evidence but if we accept this method as a standardization to be able to compare all other similar searches" will always come up with just the best rates & praise from the highly esteemed establishments, globally recognized, undoubted, independent judges & peers. I'm extremely picky & extremely detail oriented & extremely precise & caring when it comes to health matters of myself or my loved ones, so I will save the space for something more worthy of note but needless to say I did an extensive & elaborate research before going for a consult with him & only after visiting 2 other high profile HT surgeons in LA "Sanusi, Rawnsley" & my first ever initial baby step in the quest was going to the dermatology dept. at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan & was planning to visit another in Vancouver "Hasson&Wong" since I always wanted to visit & wanted to cease what appeared a legit opportunity I wouldn't feel guilty afterwards:) but was convinced I reached THE place & made up my mind. I’ll mention briefly here about my one visit to both Dr. Sanusi, Dr. Rawnsley & that first dermatology visit. I was booked with a clinical director upon my request & turned out to be Dr. Carolyn Goh whom I met for the 1st time. She informed me that they don’t offer such services at UCLA but could recommend someone who might help & it was then when I knew about Dr. Rawnsley. After meeting with her I gave up the idea to seek the sx since she was this awesome young beautiful lady with great life & career & was totally embracing & showing off her completely bald head that I couldn’t help but feel trivial afterwards for sometime really, & I was nearly not going to proceed with anything but then I went on pursuit again.
Dr. Sanusi: pros: good CV, good reviews, cons: It might sound to some but personally as soon as I walked into the office & saw what seemed to be pictures from magazines of him related in some way to the Kardashians & some other “celebrity status” references in general & very manicured & professionally taken pictures of him & the staff all in whites on the beach all this honestly negatively impacted me & affected my decision subsequently, the final quote was very expensive compared to anyone else and even to Bernstien, & I left the office without fully understanding the quote at the time & didn’t feel I was given the time to elaborate on it with the staff that was talking to me, that I left & then had to call the next day to confirm what I understood over the phone, finally about Dr. Sanusi there’s a link of him to UCLA but I’m not exactly sure what it is other than what’s written in his website of being a clinical faculty there but I searched “UCLA health, find a physician” & he’s not in their directory, unlike Rawsnley for example who’s there, & being a current member of UCLA myself I know some want the affiliation & that could be legitimate but doesn’t cut it for me personally & that only doesn’t interest me. Dr. Rawnsley: pro’s: cheapest quote among the three, UCLA facilities for the sx, cons: his main focus & he’s renowned for nose jobs. They’re both of good manners, both very accessible & minutes to me than the out of state Bernstien meaning minimizing extra losses on airfare, hotel & stuff, both nearly of equal consult charge as if I remember correctly now, both offices are nice & good staff.
I read Dr. Bernstein’s CV & some of his papers "as I'm in the health care field too" & was paying attention to all the remarks from all the surgeons I went to & the other professionals that know other professionals & after spending endless hours on websites as realself & all the Turkish websites & their daughter pages & every single thread kept leading me logically toward his clinic. He’s among the very few in the world that ONLY SPECIALIZES in hair, not plastic sx, not faciocranial, not “cosmetic” procedures, only focusing on hair.
& though only 2 individuals of friends & family were in favor of Bernstein over Turkey or Switzerland but I reached a conclusion that they will very hardly “if ever” understand because of numerous reasons “level of their health awareness in general, the dramatic difference in price of course played a pivotal point, their perception of the sx as unnecessary from start, and so many others” & I was dead confident they’re wrong & they proved to be. He’s expensive, just as all other real worthy things in life are! I’m paying for his tremendous expertise, for the life dedication of his toward being where he is today, for all the sacrifices & troubles he conquered for me & others to actually be able to benefit from his services & extract the sweetest end product of all those hurdles! & honestly & realistically speaking in a very ironic way unfortunately & kinda mocking the whole medical profession in general with all its importance to all things alive, a bag or a dress or a watch or any of other equivalence could cost similar & much higher! I believe Dr. Bernstien & people of his par in all other walks of life aren’t “after your money”, they don’t need anything else or more actually “of course anyone’s dreams are never enough at any age or level of achievement & especially these types of people tend to believe there’s always still further room & potential for advancement & that keep them striving for more, but all that is out of higher purposes”, they’re at a point in their lives where they’re in it for the passion for it, for the love of it, for the message they feel obligated its their calling in this world & wanna help others with. They’re very stable where they’re now & operating at a higher level of motivation & past the point long time ago where they had to compromise under any circumstances.
During the first consult ever he gave me all the time in the world, I asked all my questions & we talked with extreme transparency & I mentioned all my research, previous past issues, concerns & visits to different specialty centers & consults with the other HT surgeons & Turkey & was shocked to know that many of the photos these Turkish websites display are his & he was impressive in all regards & I left the happiest "as that was sincerely the case ever since too leaving the clinic ". I went to the front desk to pay for the consultation to be informed that it’s free as a professional compliment as he knew just then that I’m an another “medical colleague”! 2nd visit about 2 months later I had the 2 day sx that was the only proposed needed measure to solve my issue. They ended up grafting extra more than 200 grafts for some reason without any charge as a professional courtesy of being a "colleague”! Everything was beyond perfect from 7am-5pm for the 2 consecutive days & when I leave the clinic at 5 I proceed directly super energetic & super normal with my daily interests & extremely hectic things to do "meeting friends, going places, shopping, endless walking" with zero surgical after-taste of whatsoever truly! I didn't use any of the meds "Valium or prednisone to decrease swelling cause I don’t mind the slightest transient puffiness & I don’t like taking pills for any reason except, dah, Propecia unfortunately:)" nor the Bacitracin nor any pain killers or anything, just the shampoo & sponge & followed exactly their easy, clear verbal & double confirmed written instructions of extensive & detailed after care in case anything happens or what to expect & what would actually happen during timeframe after the sx to be assured and this gestures by itself "the beyond enormous, extremely detailed, literally A-Z encyclopedia & extensive and even personal aspects about everything HT in his website" is phenomenal & the ONLY such thing I saw among ALL, again, ALL clinics/hospitals I've been in contact with in my life & they're many, & the best, worldwide. On his website there’s even elaboration on why he’s bold & didn’t do the sx and stuff like that “an even more personal revealing new addition I noticed recently in his website is the brief mentioning of his family & that put the puzzle pieces just in place to me since I was wondering about the reason behind the new flyers in his waiting room promoting for a day spa, turned out it’s his wife:)”.
& the same last year’s scenario I relived again 5 days ago when I had my 2nd sx, no pain no complaints no discomfort no unpleasant anything in the world sincerely "& I was paying extra attention by default because of the experience I had already & was looking with a more critical eye maybe", all staff were dedicated to that procedure, never at anytime point there was only medical staff in the room, average I'd say is 3 & at the robot time I counted 5 “of course my head was to the ground but I could judge based on the motion in the room & different vocals & confirmed when I got up” & constantly Dr. Bernstein would come and go & let you feel/know he’s there & he’s on top of it & everything is fine. & this time it was only a 1-day sx & again I proceeded with my to do list in Manhattan as soon as I stepped out of the building & returned to my room around 11pm. This time it didn’t occur to me & I didn’t ask him what’s he gonna do or any details for real & now it even sounds funny to me & sweet!, I didn’t need to, I knew already & he knew me & what I need & what I’m looking for & just the solid, well established mutual trust was the only reason for such a great thing to be happening actually, & that by itself was enough. I only knew after the sx that they had actually done 1600 grafts, robotic FUE “just like the 1st one”, but/& that’s FREE OF CHARGE!!! I got of course naturally & completely overwhelmed & I still am! & everyone around me who knows. EXCELLENT, EXTEREMELY professional staff, EXTEREMLY clean & extremely hygienic everything in the clinic which occupies the entire floor & that naturally evokes a zen soothing assuring sensation that lasts all the time everytime I’m there. Minimal decor, nearly everything is in shades of whites & light green giving it a calming ambience, appealing to all tastes & kinda of a cool futuristic look. No endless plaques & letters of recognition, certificates, endless awards, trophies or every single clip of paper or column that’s ever mentioned him or his clinic or remotely signaled to that is in display “as it’s almost the standard case in other proud physicians’ clinics” except very few scattered randomly in the very minimally acceptable, discreet & tasteful way. Yes, honestly sometimes I’d feel anybody of the all staff in the clinic could be a bit cold but that’s a very minor, near not worthy of mentioning thing & who’s among us not guilty of that sometimes if not often if not everytime at work when we’re stressed out, stretched to our limits due to any reason personal or workplace related or any million other random cause? & out of my personal experience over the years at some of the best establishments truly I can confidently “maybe weirdly” say that quite often the most sought after & truly genius people share common traits & coldness/sense of distance/sense of confusion they may reflect unintentionally sometimes aren’t traits special or peculiar among them, & aren’t ironically limited to them only, but I personally think because our roof of expectations become limitless knowing their levels then we won’t settle except for the unreal & will feel negative to the ever slightest sign of a hairline crack in our beautifully carved imaginary Mona Lisa of how our experience should go, but we wouldn’t have that original false sense and subsequent negative consequences provoked by it if the other was of a more “realistically expected good” standards. This surgeon basically gets to the bottom of things, he doesn’t dig deeper HE IS the deepest & the most refined, raw & original form of the specialty he’s practicing, which is exactly what all I want. I don’t care about rubbish in all aspects of my life, I don’t wanna hear endless word games & choosing what to say & what not, I get furious when & I don’t like & don’t wanna be hung up on the crust of matters for any reason, I don’t come here to be comforted or spoiled or treated delicately “which is an integral part of the experience actually but I’m saying it in response to some lines I’ve read in some reviews” even when that means coming short as a result in the more important actual aspects of care delivery, I came here with one purpose to find the best answers, the best possible advice that could ever be offered & the best solutions. Knowing a little about respective matters & having to lead my busy life already & living the normal busy lifestyle I do with all its must-do’s & stresses & challenges, the last thing on mind is to be bothered with non-sense so I tend to opt for buying my own comfort, avoid shortcuts & just go to the specialists, there’s a price to pay but it’s justifiable if needed not to mention especially in health matters. I wanna be as thoroughly informed, appreciated & taken superb care for as possible. He’s of ZERO attitude, absolute humility that struck me for real, an authority of all things hair, refined & JUST the best possible perfect balance of manners & professionalism, & that’s in a very basic nutshell what Dr. Bernstien is about to me.

Updated on 11 Aug 2015:


Updated on 22 Aug 2015:
Attaching some of relevant things I came through recently.

To make me feel more confident.

My experience was 100% positive. I did some research and went to one of the top doctors in NYC. This one came highly recommended from my dermatologist who I have known for over 20 years. My hair stylist says mine is one of the most natural ones he saw. I wasn't very bald, just thinning a lot up front. My procedure used around 2100 grafts.

One word to anyone considering this procedure. Research and get references of the surgeon you are considering. My surgeon said about 25% of his work is redoing botched jobs. Just think; in order to do this job properly your surgeon almost needs to be an artist. He also has to know which way the hairs need to be placed (they need to go in certain angles) and he must have the eye to create a natural hairline.

Most likely, if you go to the most inexpensive clinic you can find your hair will look it. Remember, the saying "you get what you pay for" is generally true in our society. Especially when it comes to elective, cosmetic surgery.

Also, it takes about one year for the full results to show. So if your doctor tells you that you will see results in 2 or 3 months, don't walk but run out of that clinic because they are lying!

Good luck.