Who is the Best Plastic Surgeon in New York City?

Episode summary

Who is the best plastic surgeon in New York City? This episode's answer is that there is no single best surgeon for every person and procedure. Darren M. Smith, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in NYC, examines common shortcuts people use when choosing a surgeon and explains why each needs context.

Originally published September 7, 2020. This is an educational discussion of surgeon selection, not a ranking or an award claim.

Key takeaways

📚 Experience and volume

Years in practice and procedure volume can inform an assessment, but neither tells the whole story about an individual surgeon's approach.

💬 Online reviews

Online reviews can reveal patient experiences, while star counts alone do not establish the quality or suitability of care.

🧭 Referrals and priorities

A friend or physician's referral is a starting point. Ask whether the recommendation concerns the same procedure and the same priorities you have.

🔎 Visibility and marketing

Search placement, social media popularity and frequent mentions in online groups are visibility signals, not proof of surgical quality.

🏥 Office and care experience

The office experience and staff can matter to your overall care, but should be considered alongside the surgeon's experience, communication and alignment with your goals.

Questions this episode answers

Should I choose whoever performs the most procedures?

Dr. Smith explains that experience can be valuable, but volume by itself does not establish quality. He encourages evaluating the surgeon from several perspectives and considering their experience with the particular procedure you want.

Is my friend's surgeon automatically right for me?

Not necessarily. Your friend may prefer a different aesthetic result, value different parts of the experience or have undergone a different operation. The episode uses that distinction to explain why a personal recommendation still needs an individual consultation.

Do followers or five-star reviews identify the best surgeon?

No. The recording discusses how these signals can be incomplete or influenced by marketing. They can help generate questions, but do not replace a thorough assessment of the clinician and proposed care.

🔗 Continue your research

The episode builds on the earlier discussion, “How Do I Choose a Plastic Surgeon?” For current practice information, read Dr. Darren Smith's training and background and browse the patient guides. You can also schedule a consultation to discuss your procedure, expectations, alternatives and questions.

Educational information, not individualized medical advice or a guarantee of outcomes. Show notes updated September 30, 2026.

Original show notes

Board certified NYC plastic surgeon Dr. Darren Smith helps you find the plastic surgeon of your dreams.

[00:08] I'm board certified New York City plastic surgeon, Dr. Darren Smith, and this is plastic surgery before and after. Your source for the real deal about plastic surgery procedures, news about trends in aesthetic medicine, and candid sessions with industry insiders. We hope you enjoy today's episode. Who is the best plastic surgeon in New York City? Well, that is a great question and it applies to... really anywhere in the world. But we are going to look at this from the perspective of New York City because that's where my plastic surgery practice is located. And this episode really looks at the other side of the coin that we discussed in episode 7. How do I choose a plastic surgeon?

[00:53] In episode seven, we looked at methods to evaluate your options and to come to a decision in choosing your plastic surgeon. We discussed the different questions that you should ask and the different resources that are available in making this choice. Here, on the other hand, we're looking at some common criteria that are used when trying to choose the best plastic surgeon for you and exploring their pros and cons. So let's dive right in and start looking for some of the criteria that one may consider when they ask the question, who is the best plastic surgeon in New York City? Well, the first thing that a lot of people might look at is who has been in practice the longest? Which surgeons have been out and performing these procedures for years and years? So the pros at looking at plastic surgeons that have been in practice for the longest as being potentially the best plastic surgeons in New York City, and some of them are, is that these individuals have a vast experience. They've seen it all. They've seen the different variants in anatomy. They've seen the wide range of people's aesthetic preferences, and they've had the opportunity to synthesize their experience into an ability to deliver an excellent result for you. And that is a very valid way to go about your surge for your plastic surgeon. However, there are some real cons to using this measure as well when you're looking for the best plastic surgeon. First of all, Plastic surgeons that have been out for a very long time may not be up to date with the most advanced techniques. Plastic surgery is a rapidly evolving field and we are discovering new ways to do things better almost on a daily basis. So while many plastic surgeons that have been around for a while are staying up to date with the latest techniques and technologies by reading the literature and going to professional meetings. Some don't and they may be performing things the same way they were many many years ago, which may be fine, but they also may be allowing some opportunities for excellence to slip through the cracks if they're not up to date with all of the latest findings in the field. Just as the techniques of plastic surgery evolve over time, people's aesthetic standards evolve over time as well. So it's possible that someone that's been in practice for a very long time may be valuing the aesthetic ideals from long ago rather than modern aesthetic ideals.

[03:45] So it's very important to meet with your surgeon and research them according to the methods that we discussed back in episode 7 because while it's definitely true that some of the plastic surgeons that have been in practice for a very long time are truly some of the best of the best and I've had the opportunity to train with some of those like Alan Matarasso and Cheryl Astin. They are both absolutely top-notch surgeons that I would happily send my friends and family to. There are some that have been around for a very long time that may not be up to that same standard. So while length of time in practice is a good indicator of one's skill as a plastic surgeon. It cannot be taken in isolation and it's really important to vet that individual based on a 360 degree evaluation like we discussed earlier. A related criteria for the best plastic surgeon in New York City might be something to the effect of looking at who does the most of a given procedure.

[04:56] And the pros and cons of this criteria for the best plastic surgeon are pretty closely aligned with those that we discussed with regards to who's been in practice the longest. So the pros for someone that's done a lot of a given procedure. are again they have a lot of experience so they've had a really good chance to get it right and get their technique down and also if someone has dealt with many many patients they have had the opportunity to generate many reviews and make a lot of impressions in the community so you can get a good picture of who they are as a surgeon and as a person.

[05:38] On the other hand, the person who does the most of a given procedure is not necessarily the best plastic surgeon for you because quantity does not always equal quality. Someone who's doing a lot of a certain procedure could be repeating something bad over and over again. Maybe there is a flaw with their technique that's never been worked out for whatever reason, and they are just consistently producing results that are just okay. Taking a little bit more of a cynical approach, it's also possible that someone who is doing an extremely high volume of any plastic surgery procedure is more concerned with quantity than quality. Maybe they're doing as many procedures as rapidly as they can, and they're not paying as close attention to the quality their outcomes as someone who may be a little bit slower, who isn't doing quite the same volume that that surgeon is, but who's really taking their time and making sure they're getting it right each and every time and for each patient. Is the best plastic surgeon in New York City the person who has the most five-star reviews? Well, on the positive side, obviously a lot of people are saying something good about this surgeon. On the other hand, reviews, especially reviews online, should always be taken with a grain of salt. And this is something I had the opportunity to discuss with Allure a little while back. And it's really important to look at someone's review profile and to try to assess the authenticity of those reviews because, in fact, Unfortunately, it's possible to purchase good reviews online, either outright with money or a little bit less directly. Sometimes people will provide free services in exchange for positive reviews.

[07:42] Perhaps one of the most popular criteria that we're using either consciously or subconsciously when we're looking for the best plastic surgeon is whoever comes up first in the Google search results. So a lot of people when they're looking for the best plastic surgeon in New York City will type right into Google. Who is the best plastic surgeon in New York City? And that's a very reasonable thing to do because Google tends to have very advanced algorithms that can cut through a lot of information to provide relatively reliable search reviews. And at its core, since Google is looking to provide a good experience for its users, and to do that, they have to provide clear, authoritative answers to the questions that users are searching for. When you type in a query looking for a great plastic surgeon, you are likely going to find some folks near the top of the results that are viewed as authorities. However, just like any digital source, you can't believe everything you read on the internet at face value.

[08:51] And again, it's very important to vet the results that you're seeing from your search by going through some of the steps and asking some of the questions that we discussed earlier in episode seven. Is the best plastic surgeon in New York City the person that your best friend used for their procedure? Personal recommendations are an extremely reliable in general source of information for a lot of things and plastic surgery is not an exception here. Things to look out for, though, when you're speaking to your friend about aesthetic recommendations are things like, does this person share your aesthetic ideals? Maybe this is someone who likes a more pronounced or obvious result, whereas you're someone who might like a little bit more of an under-the-radar subtle result.

[09:48] You may also value different things in a plastic surgeon. Someone may prioritize economic practicality, while someone else may prioritize the comfort of their overall experience. So while your best friend clearly has your interest at heart, it's important to make sure that you're on the same page when you're discussing recommendations for an aesthetic provider or plastic surgeon. Another way that this can potentially get you into trouble is perhaps your friend had a really great rhinoplasty or nose job and they're recommending their surgeon is the best plastic surgeon in the world and this is someone who you absolutely have to go see. Well maybe their surgeon is someone who does predominantly rhinoplasty and nose job and they're not doing much of say liposuction and you're really interested in liposuction. So while your friend may have had an excellent outcome because they went to this surgeon for a nose job and that surgeon does a lot of nose jobs, maybe your expectations would be a little bit different because that surgeon doesn't do a lot of liposuction and may not have the same degree of expertise that you'd be looking for in someone to do your liposuction procedure.

[11:02] As we continue on our quest to identify the best plastic surgeon in New York City, another extremely reliable source in general is physician recommendations. Your doctor probably has a lot of patients that have had some kind of aesthetic procedure along the way, and their patients may have shared their experiences with your doctor. So your physician is able to provide some very good input with regards to the selection of a plastic surgeon, especially from a medical standpoint. They can get a sense of if that surgeon prioritized health and safety above everything else and if things were really done according to the highest standard. Similarly though to looking at your friend's recommendations, it's important to remember that your physician may not share your aesthetic ideals or may not even be taking aesthetics into account at all when recommending a plastic surgeon for you. They may be focusing solely on the safety and reliability of the surgeon that they're recommending. So again, you always want to do your homework and really dig in and get a full perspective on the recommendations you're getting even from your doctor.

[12:20] Is the person with the most Instagram followers the best plastic surgeon in New York City? While someone's number of Instagram followers or to get even a little bit more into the weeds someone's level of engagement on Instagram that is Someone whose followers like or comment on their posts a great deal may be seen as an authority in the field of plastic surgery This has become one of the most notoriously misleading ways to choose an excellent plastic surgeon and that's simply because because it is so easy to generate the appearance of fame and celebrity on Instagram without really necessarily having earned it by being an excellent surgeon. And like some of the other criteria for choosing a great plastic surgeon that we've discussed above, the methods for fabricating one's perceived celebrity and authority on Instagram can range from flat out buying followers to give themselves false social credibility to exchanging complimentary services in exchange for positive reviews. There are also a lot of other shady things that can go on in the world of Instagram that go beyond the scope of this episode but suffice it to say that someone's perceived authority on Instagram is in no way a substitute for a thorough evaluation of a surgeon like we went through in episode seven to make sure that you are seeing the whole story. Is the person with the nicest office and the biggest staff the best plastic surgeon in New York City? Well, well that might seem like a silly question.

[14:15] You can take someone's office setup and professional setting as something that may imply a certain degree of success. You could say, well, this person has a great office, they have a really well-trained staff, and this seems to be a very smooth operation. And those can have real value as a criteria for judging the quality of a plastic surgeon. At least it can make us say, well, it looks like they're doing something right. However, to use the size or opulence of someone's office and staff as the sole criteria for choosing a plastic surgeon is obviously a very flawed technique because in just very straightforward terms, anyone can take out a...

[15:02] big loan and get a fancy office. But if you look at the kind of sum total, if there's a nice office, an excellent staff, and things are running like a well-oiled machine, this can imply that your surgeon is someone that takes their practice very seriously. They've put a lot of thought into every detail, and hopefully this is something that will carry over into the quality of the procedure. or treatment that you're going to receive. So you certainly can't just judge a plastic surgeon by the quality of their office or their staff, but this can be a data point in making your overall decision. And we'll wrap up our discussion of criteria that might help us answer the question, who's the best plastic surgeon in New York City with another social media niche. And that is the Facebook group. So there are a lot of plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine Facebook groups out there. So it might be tempting to say that the person that's getting mentioned all the time in those groups has to be a great plastic surgeon. But like some of the other criteria that we mentioned above, we have to ask why the people in those groups are so popular. Is it because they are the most affordable? Is it because they have some kind of financial arrangementship with the group administrators? And even if the individuals that are getting mentioned a lot in the Facebook groups are getting mentioned for legitimate reasons, maybe they are achieving excellent results, you still have to, just like when you're looking at recommendations from a friend or a physician or really from anyone, you have to make sure that the people doing the recommending value the same things you do in a plastic surgeon. So we've reviewed a lot of criteria and let me just go ahead and answer the question for you. Who is the best plastic surgeon in New York City? Well...

[16:56] There is no single best plastic surgeon in New York City, unfortunately, and it really comes down to doing your homework and evaluating individuals from a lot of different perspectives so that you can find the plastic surgeon that is best for you for a given procedure that you'd like to have performed. And we'd really invite you to go back and listen to episode number seven. for some more tips on going through this process to make sure you find a plastic surgeon that you feel comfortable partnering with to achieve an excellent result. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to subscribe, share the show, and head over to darrensmithmd.com for more real-world plastic surgery talk.

Original Captivate episode. Original release date: 2020-09-07. The recording is the source for the transcript and episode discussion. Later context in the written summary is identified separately.

• Dr. Darren Smith's training and background
• patient guides
• schedule a consultation
• Related episode: What is One of the Most Important Things You Can Do to Ensure You Get the Best Result with Plastic Surgery?
• Related episode: Who is Dr. Darren Smith?