Scheduling for certain time of year - how far out do hospitals/surgeons normally schedule?

Question

This is a follow up to a previous question,.How far out do hospitals/surgery centers schedule? For example, if I know that I would like a winter surgery, would it make sense to schedule for next winter (2024) now?

Benjamin Liliav, MD · Answer

Time between your consultation and your surgery date (4 to 10 weeks)As long as the labs are ok and medical clearance

Morad Askari, MD, MBA · Answer

Thank you for your question. Scheduling in advance can be tricky. If you are looking for winter 2024, you will book two years in advance. A lot can happen in two years! I'm talking about life, finances, and body changes such as weight fluctuation or aging. Usually, scheduling two years in advance is not common, but depending on your surgeon might be possible. 
Also, hospitals and doctors have their own policies and schedules. So I would advise finding a surgeon (if you haven't already) and contacting them directly to know their scheduling policies.

Ram Kalus, MD, FACS · Answer

The longer answer is that it is very dependent on the plastic surgeon and hospital or facility he or she uses. Some plastic surgeons are booked months or even years ahead, and some are booked weeks ahead. If you are fairly certain about your desired date of surgery it would be wise to share that wish with your plastic surgeon who can then have his office schedule your surgery.

That said, 2024 is 15 months away and you would most likely be safe to schedule your surgery several months prior as opposed to 15 months prior. Your question is best directed to your plastic surgeon and his or her schedule coordinator. Best o luck to you.

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear Intellectual73639,
most plastic surgeons have full schedules months ahead. If you are considering surgery, I would suggest you consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination, you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Ronald J. Edelson, MD · Answer

You have to ask your particular surgeon. Some could do it right away and others  you may have to wait months. Impossible to generalize

Connie Hiers, MD, FACS · Answer

Many hospitals and surgery centers do not schedule out past 6 months. However, some physician's offices do schedule out to a year. I would suggest finding a surgeon you like, go in for consultation, and see what dates are offered.  You will need to do your preop visit, paperwork, and bloodwork within 30 days from surgery.

Scott C. Lindsay, DO · Answer

Hello and thank you for your question.
It depends on the surgical practice. I suggest you call the office and see when the best time to schedule a consultation is for a winter 2024  surgery. Best wishes!

Camille Cash, MD · Answer

This varies greatly by surgeon.  Some surgeons may have availability within weeks, others it may be several months.  If you have a date in mind that you'd like to schedule your surgery I encourage you to do so sooner rather than later to secure your spot.

Adolfo Sesto, MD · Answer

Each surgeon has their own Agenda and work and Meetings Schedule but a year before is too much. maybe 4 month before will be a good idea.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Scheduling depends on a multitude of variables. obviously I’m not successful or busy or plastic surgery office this may have a longer wait. Before a consultation and surgery and for some surgeons operating room time may be restricted to certain block times of operating room availability.
I would say there’s generally some correlation with surgeons who are highly sought after with long waiting lines to simply get an appointment for a consultation and surgeries are booked out for years in advance.
Some can do this with marketing alone but generally to get to that status the surgeon typically has to be above average in regards to the results and possibly have a very strong marketing machine behind them.
I know plenty of very talented surgeons who have a very short waiting lines and some are not so good or poorly trained individuals doing cosmetic surgery who are quite busy.
It’s always easier and generally encouraged to not rush into surgical procedures and scheduled them well in advance.
Early summer and spring time are typically the most popular seasons for cosmetic surgery especially procedures pertaining to young women like liposuction and breast augmentation.
Tell me tuck is probably the most or one of the most intense and invasive operations we perform as plastic surgeons at least in the Aesthetic surgery arena.
There’s nothing wrong with anyone having the procedure but patients should be prepared physically, emotionally, financially, and financially.
For most patients two full weeks of uninterrupted recovery time is about right. A lot of people experience an emotional roller coaster during the first 12 months after a full tummy tuck.
It obviously varies substantially from patient to patient and to some degree the experience varies on the choice of providers.
I do not recommend anybody scheduled surgery or commit to surgery by setting a date or making a deposit during any one single consultation.
I think patients oh it to themselves to think about their options and I definitely recommend patients have multiple in person consultations before committing to a permanent and irreversible procedure.
When a tummy tuck is done poorly it is very difficult to improve upon the results with the revision
For that reason I recommend anyone in doubt simply slow down and continue having in person consultations until you feel very comfortable you found the right provider.
Well some surgeons may have scheduling times that are more convenient for your needs I would not choose a plastic surgeon purely based on schedule availability.
There’s a substantial difference or variety/variance in tummy tuck results based on who does the procedure.
I’ve seen lots of plastic surgeons do these far too fast hunting quarters as they go not attempting to do their best work but simply maximize profit.
A detail oriented full tummy tuck should take about four hours.
It’s possible surgeons can do quality work especially on a smaller patient and less time than that especially if they have an assistant.
No one should need 7 to 8 hours to do a tummy tuck unless it’s an extended or wraparound tummy tuck and a large individual or there are secondary procedures or some unusual circumstance.
The key to find the best provider is to get access to their entire collection of before and after pictures or as close to that as you can.
Most providers will show you pre-selected pictures representing the best results of their career.
That’s fine and we all expect people to put their best foot forward.
With the cosmetic surgery it’s nice to see really high quality outputs but would patients really need to see is number one what average results look like in the hands of each provider and number two how many of these procedures have they really performed.
To do that ask providers to open up their entire portfolio of before and after pictures. With most plastic surgeons using electronic means of storing photographs this should not be all that difficult.
Surgeons may be reluctant for a variety of reasons to simply open up and let patients look at every single one of the results but if they do you should take the opportunity.
To put things in perspective my personal belief is that an experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures of commonly performed procedures like a tummy tuck. highly experienced surgeons will have hundreds or even thousands of before and after pictures for these type of procedures.
Bring pictures of your own torso similar to have plastic surgeons take before and after pictures showing your front side and backside as reference for finding previous patients who had similar body characteristics to your own.
Ask the surgeon to show you as many pictures as possible with patients who have similar body characteristics to your own. You should also ask them to show you examples of a variety of different types of outcomes including excellent outcomes, average outcomes and less than outcomes.
You should always ask what the surgeons policy is in regards to revision Work. 
All plastic surgeons should have a certain revision rate. If not they are either not acknowledging that things could be done better. What outcome is less than what the surgeon had hoped for they should be encouraging I’m offering revisions to improve the outcome. If the surgeon can make a substantial impact on the primary outcome a revision is indicated and should not be charged for it though it is common for plastic surgery offices to ask patients to pay for any facility or anesthesia fee should they be needed.
In reality a lot of revision work are fairly minor details and can often be done in the office avoiding the expense of a formal operating room with an anesthesiologist.
Judge plastic surgeons for tummy tuck surgery based on who gets the most natural looking belly buttons. That tends to be one of the harder parts of the procedure and those who get natural looking belly buttons typically know what you’re doing. You should be very familiar with what tummy tuck results look like finding as many before and after pictures on various websites and forums like this especially of patients who have your body characteristic.
Set up a reading system for it various criteria you use to vet providers.
The tummy tuck and how natural it looks it’s probably one of the best. The second variable the differentiates quality work from that which is perhaps not such nice looking outcomes is the design of the incision. in my opinion there should be a convex curvature following the natural curve of the mons pubis. after that the scar or incision line should follow the groin crease. Setting the scar very low allows patients to camouflage the scar nicely with undergarments and also creates the illusion of an elongated torso.
The torso should also look balanced and proportionate from all areas. Simply viewing a tummy tuck by only judging the front of the abdomen is not sufficient. A good plastic surgeon will see the torso from all angles and modify the procedure so that the torso looks good from all angles after the procedure. this means for some individuals it may require doing an extended tummy tuck including sometimes doing wraparound or body lift type procedures. for others as simply adding appropriate body contouring with Liposuction or whatever is needed to have the torso look attractive balanced and proportionate from all angles.
Plastic surgeons rarely do but they should include pictures from the front, sides including the back as well as three-quarter views.
Finally I recommend reading all reviews and various physician review websites avoiding providers with any significant number of justified negative reviews. The absence of justified negative reviews is more important in more telling than having an abundance of positive reviews.
It’s not uncommon for people to want to take advantage of scheduling surgery around time off which includes some of the holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas time.
In some offices those slots may be difficult to obtain and for other practices they may be wide-open.
You should be aware that surgical schedules are quite dynamic and change often sometimes on the short notice.
Life happens and patients sometimes cancel surgery right up until the day of surgery.
If it’s important to get your procedure done sooner rather than later then ask to get on their waiting list and let them know that the time frame is important for you.
It may be tempting to choose the surgeon who is most convenient in regards to scheduling but I would always recommend patients choose providers purely based on skill, experience, ethical values and a sense of trust.
Whenever possible I recommend patients avoid virtual consultations. I don’t think it’s possible to get a good quality assessment and explain what can or cannot be accomplished or the new one says and variations without an examination. Likewise I don’t think patients can properly vet a provider and get a good sense of who they are. It’s also difficult to convey what I mentioned earlier about getting doctors to open up their portfolio and show as many before and after pictures if the pictures need to be sent via email or uploaded etc. etc. 
In the end finding the right plastic surgeon is the most important variable and doing that requires a fair amount of effort for most people.
Sometimes people simply stumble upon one of the best surgeons during their first consultation.
Being a board-certified plastic surgeon with overall good reputation is no guarantee that any plastic surgeon has mastered any one particular procedure.
In regards to simply understanding each surgeons office scheduling and timelines you can probably get that information by calling the front office and asking how far office is booked out when their next surgical and consultation appointments are available and if they have a list for patients willing to take a surgery spot on short notice.A full tummy tuck including muscle tightening is a major operation and patients typically do better if they are well prepared physically, emotionally, socially and financially.
A lot of individuals go through a roller coaster of emotions for months after the surgery.
It makes it much easier if you have solid social support in your life going through this process rather than relationships with conflict or close friends and family not supporting the individual for having the procedure.
Continue having consultations until you feel very confident you found the right provider for your needs.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD

Scheduling for certain time of year - how far out do hospitals/surgeons normally schedule?

Answers (12)

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