Q&A with Dr Slenkovich

I’d turn the tables a bit here and ask how they thought I’d be a fit for them as a surgeon given their goals and what they’ve learned from our practice and their consultation. We are not for everyone, but we commit to a partnership with our patients and ask that they do the same. Our practice is built on a trusting relationship, caring and expertise. “We partner with patients on their self-improvement journey” and our team seeks to make an impact in the lives of our patients.

In our area, we see many patients that have had body contouring procedures “elsewhere” and then come to us because they haven’t reached their goals. I have seen patients that have previously had a tummy tuck, and their abdomens looked better…, but they hadn’t been contoured to show off their figure. My signature body contouring procedure is 360 degree liposuction to thin the entire trunk from the pooch above the breasts to the pooch down below, and all parts in between. This significantly includes the back, hips and waist and I work to give a skinny appearance that has curves. In a majority of cases, I perform fat grafting to the buttock area for shaping and often also for increasing the size of the booty (e.g. “BBL”).

Honestly, I’m saddened by the number of times I see patients that have had a full-price procedure performed that from the outset wasn’t going to maximize their ability to get their “dream figure.” From initial call to consult to surgery, we work to truly identify goals and maximally deliver on results.

Our goal is to establish a trusting relationship and give expert professional recommendations. And to be respective of the patient's time (and intelligence) through a thorough and well-cared-for process via our Patient Care Coordinators (PCCs).

By the time I have a consultation (either virtually or in-person) with a prospective patient, they’ve been given the opportunity to view our website and extensive social media postings to learn about our approach and our results. And they have had a pre-consultation with our dedicated and experienced full-time PCCs that have learned in detail about their goals and about their emotional, physical, personal-support and financial situation to assess that they are likely an excellent fit for our practice. Many times prospective patients will have sent in photos for our review and where needed, I will personally review these photos with our PCCs – and this is incorporated in the pre-consult process. And the expected costs, needed preparation and expected recovery have also been covered.

So… my consultation is a superbly-well-prepared-for meeting where I get to learn about the patient as a person, learn specifically about their concerns and goals and then discuss options. The actual consult is a critical meeting – one where we establish a relationship of trust and open communication, ask tough and often vitally important questions of each other and then apply my assessment and recommendations (including limitations) as to how we may help reach their ultimate, real goals.

Sometimes this is “more” that what they had thought would be needed, but this generally comes out when we really determine that their true goals are more that what they initially expected. And sometimes I recommend less. Or other times I explain that unfortunately I don’t feel they will be able to reach their goals or that I don’t feel I can meet their expectations.

I am obsessed with patient safety. Our team and processes are continually evolving to optimize safety and prevention of major complications. This starts with screening for risk factors and medical conditions, extends to rigorous preoperative risk assessment, patient education, supplementation and optimization, and extends to prophylactic safety measures before, during and after surgery. I welcome any and all safety questions from patients and am honored to work with a highly experienced medical team in a state-licensed surgery center. I have continuously maintained my critical care skills for operative patients and my ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) certification and have been the medial director of our surgery center since I opened it in 2008.

I could go on and on, but I would summarize by saying that I feel fully confident in our team’s approach to safety and any of us would send any family member, ourselves or our friends to our practice for surgery (and many have).

A huge part of the satisfaction of performing surgery comes from knowing that I am helping patients reach their goals. These are not generally life-saving goals, but they are intensely personal and intensely important goals to each patient.

In our practice, the operating room is a very special place. As we start surgery, I share with our team the personal goals and the “story” of our patient. We all get invested in our patient’s journey and we put a part of ourselves and our love into the procedure and the outcome.