What Schools in California Are Suggested to Go To, to Be Used As a Subject for Breast Augmentation ?

The residents at any of the teaching universities with residency programs would love to help you.  Residents in plastic surgery are highly educated surgeons who are now specializing in plastic surgery. They need to do specific operations under supervision and this is usually done under the auspices of a Residents' Clinic for cosmetic surgery.

There are five accredited plastic surger residency programs in California. A link to them is posted below.

I did my plastic surgery training at UC Irvine. We had a very active resident clinic experience as well as a fantastic cosmetic surgery exposure...which cannot be said for every residency training program. I would suggest that you start there.

 Plastic Surgery Residency Training Programs include UCLA, USC, and Loma Linda, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Stanford, UCSF, and UC Davis.

I am most familiar with USC and UCI  and have worked with residents there

Medical schools in California with Plastic Surgery Residency Training Programs (in no special order) include UCLA, USC, and Loma Linda, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Stanford, UCSF, and UC Davis.

Dear Kelly,

Thank you for this excellent question.  I feel that having a breast augmentation in a university program where the residents have chief residents and attending staff available to observe their technique and to make expert suggestions and recommendations makes a whole lot more sense than going to a "cosmetic" surgeon who is trained in dermatology or oral surgery.  

Breast augmentations are complex surgeries.  The correct diagnosis of each individual case takes a surgeon with years of experience, and the correct treatment also takes years of experience.  The patients who are at greatest risk are the ones who go to surgeons not trained in university programs and not Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.  The next level up is if you go to a motivated resident backed by knowledgeable staff to have your breast augmentation.  And, of course, the best chance of an outstanding surgery is if you have your breast augmentation performed by a Board Certified plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery with years of experience.

Obviously, money is often a consideration.  In plastic surgery, as in most areas of life, you get what you pay for. 

      You can call the plastic surgery university programs around your area to inquire about rates for the resident or fellow cosmetic clinics.      You may be able to get a small discount, but it will not be free.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Kenneth Hughes, MD                                                                                                          Los Angeles, CA

Hard to say. You are skating a slippery slope though. We did have a resident clinic where I trained and one of our staff surgeons would do the cases with us at a discounted price. Usually you will need to find a university that has a Plastic Surgery training program. Some of those programs will have a chief residents clinic and allow them to book these types of cases. Be careful, a breast augmentation can really be messed up and you want to make sure that if you do go to the resident clinic that they are well supervised by a staff surgeon. You get what you pay for, just remember that.

Although I understand that plastic surgeons, including myself, need to train somewhere, I would suggest that you do not make yourself a “subject” for breast augmentation surgery. Ultimately, you should keep the final goal in mind;  achieving the results you wish with breast surgery as safely and complication free as possible.

 I would suggest, instead that you slowly save up for this elective procedure. When the time is right from the physical, emotional, psychosocial, and financial standpoints, find the best plastic surgeon you can  to perform the procedure for you.

When it comes to choosing a plastic surgeon I generally advise that patients start with the American Society of Plastic Surgery  to obtain a list of well experienced board-certified plastic surgeons.

Then, I would suggest you visit a few surgeons whose practices  concentrate on aesthetic surgery. Ask  to see lots of examples of their work and preferably speak/see patients who have had similar procedures done.

You will find,  while doing your due diligence,  that there are many different “specialties” who will offer their services to you;  again, I strongly recommend you concentrate on surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.  

Make your decisions carefully when it comes to selection of your plastic surgeon;  although no surgeon is perfect and every plastic surgeon has complications that require revisionary surgery,    revisionary surgery rates may vary from one surgeon to another. Also, remember that if revisionary surgery does become necessary,  it may be more expensive in many ways. Therefore, do not to make your decisions based on financial considerations primarily.

I hope this helps.