Medical Schools in Raleigh, NC That Offer Free Tummy Tucks?

You have twoplastic surgery training programs near you.  You might inquire whether they offer a resident's clinic.  Services through these clinics is at a reduced cost.  There are too many resources and people needed to perform any type of major surgery for the cost to routinely be written off.

Good Luck,

Dr. ES

There is no free plastic surgery. Some resident's programs of plastic surgery may offer reduced fees. UNC,and Duke programs may have offer discounted fees.

Thank you for the question.

You will find that the cost of surgery will vary  significantly even in the same town. Although important, ultimately the cost of surgery should be  of less concern than the quality and safety of the procedure performed. In other words, do your due diligence carefully. Check with the American Board of Plastic Surgeons and/or  and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons for appropriate training and credentials.  Then, make sure you see lots of examples of the surgeons work in pictures ( better yet meet with patients who have had similar procedures).
If the surgeons you choose are out of your “price range”,  wait on having the surgery until you can afford them.  Elective plastic surgery is not an “item” you should bargain shop for. You will find that revisionary surgery can be more much more expensive.

Best wishes. 

There are 2 medical schools close to you - Duke in Durham and UNC in Chapel Hill. Neither offers free Tummy Tucks. (I trained at Duke in Plastic Surgery).

Even if the Plastic Surgery residents may offer their work for free and their supervising attending surgeons may do so for free or at greatly reduced rates, NO hospital cannot give away valuable OR time (including staff time and supplies) for free and the anesthesiologists do not work for free. As a result, you may find that the Plastic Surgery clinic at Duke is significantly cheaper than what is being charged in the community but it will not be free.

Dr. Aldea

All of the training programs for the plastic surgery have residents clinic that offer surgical treatments . The fee for the procedure is much reduced to cover the anesthesia and the operating room fees.

Because of the significant supply costs involved, it is unlikely that you'll find any training programs that offer free tummy tucks.  It is quite a bit easier logistically to do this for dental procedures, so that is a totally different deal.

Nonetheless, it wouldn't hurt you to call around to the UNC, Duke, and NC State Programs there and check.  Contact the Plastic Surgery Department and ask to speak to one of the nurses working in the clinic.

In the meantime, if you think about other ways that you can conserve some extra money, eat out less often, cut back on the TV expenses, maybe drive a slightly older car, you can build up your cash reserves, repair your credit and have the procedure eventually paid for.  The results from your surgery should give you many years of pleasure and satisfaction, unlike these other expenses.

Best of luck!

Both UNC in Chapel Hill and Duke in Durham have training programs and a resident clinic. Neither will do the surgery free, though both probably will do it at a discount and may offer financing. (NC State in Raleigh does not have a training program. UNC used to have an ancillary program at Wake County Medical Center. It wouldn't hurt to call there also.)

Most training programs in plastic surgery have some sort of "resident clinic" where patients can have surgery done by trainees supervised by faculty members.  These surgeries are done at discounted rates but are by no means free.