November 18th, 2008 Dr. John Millard
I want to share with you one of my favorite quotes, a quote which has a lot to say about the potential for cosmetic surgery:
“I recognized that working superficially, I had the ability well beyond the simple removal of fatty bulges. Why not use it as a sculpting tool, to obtain imaginary shape, the ideal profile that we dream about creating?”
That quote, which was written over 20 years ago, is from Professor Marco Gasparotti, an Italian doctor and one of the earliest pioneers of liposuction. Professor Gasparotti was one of the first, and until recently one of the last, doctors to explore the art and possibility of aesthetic surgery. He realized, decades ago, that cosmetic surgery offered the possibility to uncover a person’s ideal body shape.
After Gasparotti’s contribution, however, the cosmetic study of liposuction went in the wrong direction, I feel. There was no further exploration of what amazing results liposculpture could achieve for the patient; doctors confined themselves to taking out contour irregularities and excess fat.
Why was that the case? Well, in the past, liposuction technology wouldn’t let a cosmetic surgeon do anything more than removing bulges! We were limited by the fact that our tools wouldn’t allow us to work on the layer of superficial fat that all patients have. That means that our results, in the past, were always limited to one dimension.
The shame, I feel, is that what previously was just a limitation of technology became a limitation of ideas. We learned that there was only one right way to perform liposuction, and that meant ignoring the new capabilities of break-through technologies!
I’ve met quite a few doctors who seem unable to wrap their head around the possibilities for a new generation of liposculpture technology. They argue that “it’s just not done.” But the truth is, experts like Gasparotti knew that cosmetic surgery cannot keep looking backward into the past. What was once impossible is now possible, and we can obtain superior results for patients today, by doing far more than removing bumps and lumps, but instead unlocking the patients ideal shape.
Wishing you good health,
Dr. Millard
Posted in Home | No Comments »
November 17th, 2008 Dr. John Millard
I have a few more recommendations on what a patient should look for in a cosmetic doctor. First of all, the patient should make sure that the doctor is passionate about what he does. This is an easy one: the doctor should be excited upon meeting you, should exhibit a friendly demeanor, and should seem relaxed and fairly stress-free.
Of course, the advice of choosing someone who likes his profession makes as much sense when you choose an accountant or personal trainer, as much as when you choose a cosmetic surgeon. But I would argue that it may be even more important for a cosmetic surgeon: surgery can be an exacting process, and a stressed-out surgeon is not someone who should be performing complicated cosmetic procedures!
Another simple question to ask your doctor is: “How many of these procedures do you do a year, doctor?” No matter whether it’s a lunch-time procedure or something more complicated, a doctor will always have better results after acquiring more experience. If I go to a doctor who performs hundreds of breast lifts a year, I can comfortably assume that he’s probably very good at performing breast lifts!
Those are just another couple tips to keep in mind when considering a cosmetic surgeon. After all, you’re entrusting your surgeon with a big responsibility: your body or face. You should rest easy, knowing that you’re in the capable hands of a talented professional.
Wishing you good health,
Dr. Millard
Posted in Home | No Comments »
October 24th, 2008 Dr. John Millard
I first started going to Mikuni in Fair Oaks, California in 1992. They were a small sushi restaurant that was just starting to gain notoriety and popularity in the Sacramento area. I dined their frequently, usually many times a week. In fact my first date with Paula was at Mikuni in 1994. In 1996, we moved from California, but visited family a couple times a year and always kept up with Mikuni’s progress as they expanded from the one small restaurant to 5 in Northern California. We have always eaten sushi and have always compared it to our experience at Mikuni. Mikuni has always set the standard for us and we are not alone:
In 2007, Sacramento Magazine’s annual best restaurant results were released: readers voted Mikuni “Best” for ten consecutive years in the categories of “Best Japanese Restaurant” and “Best Sushi Restaurant.”
Sacramento Magazine is distributed monthly to over a half million subscribers.
Imagine our sheer excitement when we learned that our Mikuni restaurant was opening up their first location outside of California and that it would be literally right down the road from our home and office. We ate there three times in the first week alone!
Mikuni’s is located in the new outdoor part of the mall on the west side at Park Meadows Mall. It is between the new Brio Restaurant and Cru Wine Bar
I would love for you to check out Mikuni’s. Tell them Dr John Millard sent you!
http://www.mikunisushi.com/en/mikuni-corporate-news/mikuni-signs-lease-at-park-meadows-lifestyle-shopping-mall.php
Posted in Home | No Comments »
October 23rd, 2008 Dr. John Millard
In my last post, I began discussing what to look for when choosing the right cosmetic surgeon. Here’s another tip that I think will help the nervous cosmetic patient come to the right decision.
Ask your doctor this simple question: “Doctor, what do you think you’re good at, and what do you think you’re not good at?“ This is something that patients hardly ever ask, but it’s such an important thing to ask about!
No doctor is equally good at every procedure. If a doctor is incredibly good at breast augmentation procedures, that’s not proof that he’s equally good at a blepharoplasty. And if a doctor feels that he is not very good at facial procedures, he should not be the one giving you a facelift!
I personally will be very blunt with my patients: there are several areas that I’m incredibly good at, and there are a couple other areas that I’m not as good at. For those procedures, I will refer my patients to another doctor. And from what I can tell, patients seem to appreciate my honesty. But frankly, it’s a no brainer: I will do procedures that I’m good at, and that’s where I draw the line.
Unfortunately, some plastic surgeons do not have the same philosophy. Especially if a cosmetic doctor is having a slow month, he may perform a procedure he’s not normally known for. That is why, as a patient, you should ask where the doctor’s strengths and weaknesses lie as a cosmetic surgeon.
Wishing you good health,
Dr. John A. Millard
Posted in Home | No Comments »
October 17th, 2008 Dr. John Millard
Choosing the right cosmetic surgeon can be a scary experience. You’re entrusting a near- stranger with your face or body, with part of your identity. In my next few blogs posts, I want to share a few tips on how to choose a good plastic surgeon.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Wards
First: Every doctor should have a strong set of before-and-afters. Before-and-afters, are pictures of the cosmetic surgeon’s patients and their procedures. These photos are the best proof a doctor can offer that he or she receives good results. If a doctor seems unwilling to show you there before-and-after pictures, or only shows you a couple, be very wary!
A good doctor should be proud of his or her before-and-after photos, and take every opportunity to show them off. At my practice, we put a lot of photos right on the website. My partner, Dr. Broadway does the same thing with his before and after photos. If a doctor is unwilling to show off his photos, it’s evidence that he or she may have sub-standard results.
Wishing you good health,
Dr. John A. Millard
Posted in Home | 1 Comment »
October 3rd, 2008 Dr. John Millard
I started my 10 day whirlwind trip in Tokyo, Japan with my wife, Paula and my nurse and first assistant, Kim. We were there to perform Vaser Hi-def on one of the most prestigious Plastic Surgeons in Japan. In our free time, we did a river cruise, visited the world famous Tsukiji fish market, toured shrines and temples, and had the attached photos taken with Kim and Paula as Geishas and myself as a Samurai!
Next stop on the trip was London where I spent 2 days training 2 different clinics on Smartlipo. It was an exciting opportunity for me to introduce top surgeons in the country to this procedure. While in London we visited the Piccadilly Circus area of London.
We were then on to Innsbruck, Austria where I gave a lecture at the Laser Innsbruck 2008 national meeting, again on Smartlipo. I spent the rest of my trip touring Innsbruck and on the last day, took a train ride to Munich, Germany where I visited Dachau Concentration Camp.
Professionally, the trip was a huge success and a huge honor to be able to share my expertise in the field of body contouring with top surgeons from around the world. On a personal note, I loved being able to see the highlights of each city we visited and share them with Kim and Paula.
Posted in Home | No Comments »
September 26th, 2008 Dr. John Millard
Dr. John A. Millard was featured on Dr. 90210 with Dr. David Matlock performing Vaser Hi Def™. Dr. John Millard pioneered the Vaser® Hi Def Liposculpture or Vaser® Hi Def Liposuction procedure here in the United States.
Dr. Millard is a board certified Plastic Surgeon in the Denver, Colorado area. He has taught and performed the procedure to other surgeons throughout the World and United States including Dr. 90210’s, surgeon to the Stars, Dr. David Matlock. He was very excited to have performed the procedure along side of Dr. Matlock which produced a great result. Please check www.MillardPlasticSurgery.Com for more details.
Posted in Home | No Comments »
September 19th, 2008 Dr. John Millard
I want to talk a little more about the Advanced Body Sculpting Institute. As I mentioned before, I have a lot of teachers in my family. My brother, my cousin, two aunts and my grandmother all teach. My own teaching experience comes from the Institute, and I talked a bit about how I got established in my last post.
The Institute was formed because doctors needed a space to learn about liposuction, about how to look at the human body, and about proper surgical settings within a practice. I’m proud to say that, after less than four years, our Institute has managed to raise the bar for doctor education.
We have spent years developing a syllabus that was balanced, comprehensive, and on-point in addressing physicians’ needs. It’s important, from a medical standpoint, to make sure that every article or conclusion you reach as a doctor is supported by medical literature. It’s a bit like a legal brief; you can’t fly by the seat of your pants, but instead you have to expand on a body of knowledge that’s already in place.
Unfortunately, I found that too many other cosmetic courses were too willing to do just that. And it showed: for SmartLipo procedures, there used to be quite a few training courses offering physicians knowledge and expertise on how to use SmartLipo technology. However, the other courses fell apart, and today the Body Sculpting Institute is the only space in the United States where you can find a SmartLipo course.
We’ve been approached by other teachers, trying to start similar programs, who ask to use our syllabus. I believe that our syllabus is so in demand because of the quality and attention to detail we put in. And I’m glad to say that it shows.
The mission of the Advanced Body Sculpting Institute is to provide the latest and greatest in training, as well as to provide a thorough experience for new techniques and technologies. But the philosophy of the Institute has all to do with high quality of medical standards and patient care. It’s a philosophy I apply in my own practice, and it’s a philosophy I instilled in the Body Sculpting Institute. And it’s a philosophy we try to cultivate in every cosmetic surgeon who comes through the Institute, to think of oneself as a doctor above all else.
Wishing you good health,
Dr. John A. Millard
Posted in Advanced Body Sculpting Institute, Home | No Comments »
September 18th, 2008 Dr. John Millard
I’ve been interviewed by many different media outlets, on many different media procedures. I’ve spoken with reporters from Extra to Entertainment tonight, and all the media attention has given me the opportunity to really think about how a cosmetic surgeon should interact with the media.
Because, let’s face it; the media drives a lot of our notions of beauty. We’re bombarded with pictures of perfect-looking men and women. And I’ve heard a lot of accusations, that the media can be a tool for exploitation and hype. Every day there’s a new miracle cure, or device. So what can I do, as a doctor, to make sure the media gets the right story?
My philosophy for media interviews is to try and get as much information to the public as I can, in the most concise form, as to what their options are. There’s a lot of media distortion out there, that’s true. I feel that my job as a cosmetic surgeon is to give the clearest and most detailed explanation of a new device or technique that I can. And when I do this correctly, I feel like the media is a really useful tool for patient education.
I do believe that media coverage of cosmetics can be a good thing. Let me give an example: I’ve had patients come to me after receiving a Vaser Hi-Def procedure from a different doctor, and the patients weren’t happy with the results at all. The doctors had said that they were familiar with the procedure, when they clearly were not. And it seems to me that these doctors weren’t deceiving the patients so much as they were deceiving themselves, by thinking they already knew what was, actually a cutting-edge procedure.
In this case, the patient suffers from a sub-standard result because of the doctor’s unfamiliarity with a new procedure. The patient, as well, was unfamiliar with the range of the doctor’s expertise in dealing with new procedures. A timely news story on the Hi-Def procedure could have prevented such an occurrence, by educating the doctors on what Hi-Def really is, and educating the patients as to what to expect from a Vaser-trained doctor.
That’s why I do believe in the power of media to inform the prospective patient, creating a safer environment for a more knowledgeable cosmetic consumer. And, in my experience as a cosmetic surgery expert for numerous media outlets, that’s why I also believe that the cosmetic surgeon has a key role to play in informing the patient through the media.
Wishing you good health,
Dr. John A. Millard
Posted in Home | No Comments »
September 4th, 2008 Dr. John Millard
Combining Teaching and Cosmetic Knowledge: The advanced Body Sculpting Institute
I come from a long line of teachers; teaching has been the primary profession in my family for the last three generations. So when I took the career path of a doctor, I kept my eyes open for how to integrate teaching with my own medical expertise. I finally found that opportunity with the Advanced Body Sculpting Institute .
I have a long track record of embracing breakthrough technologies, exploring new aesthetic devices and developing expertise on new techniques before many other doctors have the opportunity. So many times, I have been approached by cosmetic companies, which ask me to lecture on their behalf. And after participating as a teacher in several classes for new doctors, I realized there was a tangible need for improvement.
I remember when I came up with the idea of the advanced Body Sculpting Institute; I had just finished several lectures in Italy, Portugal, and the United States. I realized that there was both an opportunity and a need for doctors to have a place to go after residency, in order to learn how to us new technologies. Too many doctors are willing to assume that, after buying a machine, they will already have the necessary experience to use it. That would be like buying an airplane, and assuming you can pilot it!
About the Advanced Body Sculpting Institute
For that reason, I created the Advanced Body Sculpting Institute in September 2005. At first, the Body Sculpting Institute was such a new idea that we had to break through some barriers in order to establish it.
For example, most state medical boards don’t allow out-of-state doctors to practice. Since we wanted to bring cosmetic experts in from all over the world, you can see how difficult a problem that would be! We worked with the Colorado state medical board in order to make sure that we could bring in experts from outside the state to learn and to teach.
We also set up a national insurance policy dealing with malpractice issues for training purposes. This has never been done before, and logistical hurdles dogged us for a while. But we were undeterred: I strongly felt that doctors needed a space to learn new technologies, and I was unwilling to compromise on either safety or quality of teaching.
I want to talk a little more about the Institute in my next blog post; I really think education is incredibly important, so important that I can’t sum it up in just one blog post!!!
Wishing you good health,
Dr. John A. Millard
Posted in Home | No Comments »
