A Moment with...Dr. David M. Whiteman

Dr. David Whiteman is refreshing in the world of plastic surgery; he's funny, candid and very down to earth. He doesn't carry himself with the air of superiority that many other plastic surgeons inadvertently leave as a first impression. When speaking to him you feel as if a trusted friend (albeit a very intelligent and well schooled friend) is giving you the "real story" instead of hiding behind a lot of medical jargon and cheerleading to get your business. This is why over 500 women have trusted Dr. Whiteman with their breast augmentation surgery; you can't help but trust him. As any of his satisfied patients will tell you, trust and rapport is something he focuses on from your first consultation to your post-operative care. After a typically long day of seeing patients, he kindly gave us a few minutes for this interview.

BI411: What originally interested you in plastic surgery.

Dr. Whiteman: I was originally going to be an OBGYN and in training I had the opportunity to experience what that lifestyle was like. I couldn't comprehend why people would want to get up in the middle of the night to have people screaming and to have bodily fluids flying everywhere! I decided that it was not for me. I had already been accepted to residency programs and my next rotation was in plastic surgery. It gave me the opportunity to work on people of all ages, all body parts, healthy or sick; it had a lot of appeal for me and it went on from there.

BI411: You've done a great deal of study in Canada.

Dr. Whiteman: I'm a dual citizen; I've lived my whole life in Canada. I went to Georgetown to do a fellowship.

BI411: Is there any difference in the public view of plastic surgery between Canada and the United States?

Dr. Whiteman: Canadians as a whole are a little bit more conservative. They're certainly a little more forgiving; a little less litigious. Without a doubt, in the last five years or so, plastic surgery in terms of cosmetic surgery in Canada has really seen a boon. The biggest difference between Canada and the United States is that in the United States we have such an excess number of physicians relative to the number of patients that people will market themselves in areas well beyond what they're capable of. In Canada we have the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons; it's a governing body for medicine. In the United States, there is no governing body for medicine. In Canada, you can't call yourself a plastic surgeon if you're not. Whereas here, you can call yourself whatever you want. It's very disappointing, actually. It really tells you what drives some people.

BI411: Here in America, a lot of non board certified doctors blame it on the rise of HMO's and they're getting squeezed down to the penny, which is forcing them to break into your business to make up the difference. With Canada having socialized medicine...

Dr. Whiteman: It's a single payer system so the motivation is there. There's a saying here that goes, "It's The American Way". The dollar drives people and in Canada it's a little different; the specialties are a little more defined. You don't find people crossing over. I know of OBGYN's here who do liposuction. I remember very clearly when I was first in practice having a patient call who lived in California and was here visiting his mother. He called our office saying he recently had liposuction and would we mind taking his stitches out. He came over and he looked like hell. I asked, "Would you mind telling me who did your surgery?" He said, "Here's his card". It was a cardiologist. Not even a cardiac surgeon; a cardiologist! I told him that the person was a cardiologist and he said, "Well, he came highly recommended." Enough said, you know?

BI411: What should a woman expect during her first consultation with you?

Dr. Whiteman: The first visit to the office should be a fact-finding mission. The first thing we let them know is that we're not going to sign them up for surgery on the first visit. Patients should have the opportunity to go home, think about it and call us back. We would only schedule people after two visits. I do all my own consultations. I know that there are people who have PA's or work extenders, but I don't feel that's what patients are paying for.

We'll review what the patient's concerns are and we'll talk about issues related to what their goals are and I'll give them a realistic expectation as to whether their results would reach their goals. The other thing I keep in mind and that I frequently tell patients is I am not going to tell them how wonderful they'll look; they're here to hear the negative things. If they can walk away having heard the negative things, then the positive things will demonstrate themselves after they've had the surgery. That's our motivation; some come back and some don't. It's interesting that the ones who come back frequently give us comments with regards to our office being very honest.

BI411: Do you brace them for the possible emotional turmoil some women go through after the surgery?

Dr. Whiteman: One of the things that this patient brought up was, "Do other patients feel depressed after surgery?" For the most part, they don't. I don't specifically bring it up now, but it's something I might consider bringing up with the right patient. Not every patient is the same and you can sort of read most of them. Usually if the hair stands up on the back of your head, you should listen to yourself! That changes as you get older.

BI411: And you have less hair on your head!

Dr. Whiteman: Right, and you get less motivated. Initially you want to do cases and certainly, there's a financial motivation, that's one part of it. At some point, though, you actually say to yourself, "I think it's best if I avoid this patient altogether." That's the little voice inside all of us you need to listen to.

You really need to give people respect. In our office, we see people on time. If you're not on time, we call you. Patients should be seen on time. Sitting in the waiting room is horrible! It's disrespectful. These are people coming in to pay us!

We have an outstanding staff that really treats patients with respect. Our patients in our practice get absolutely individual care. Patients here when they go into an operation feel very comfortable that the quality of care they're going to get is going to be excellent and once they've had their operation they're not going to be left alone to flounder. Technically, we do an operation as well as anybody and when you combine that with very personal service, you get a very good practice to go to.

I want to go home at the end of a day and say that we treated people right.

Dr. Whiteman's expertise is well known throughout Atlanta and over 500 breast augmentation patients agree you can't find a better surgeon. Give him a call at (770) 622-9100 and find out why.

Visit Dr. David Whiteman's profile on Breast Implants 411