Insights from a Plastic Surgeon, Professor & Innovator

In this episode, plastic surgeon Dr. Joshua Korman joins David to discuss his career path, academic and private practice, innovation, financial decisions and more.

Josh begins with his background – where he grew up, what got him interested in medicine and plastics in particular.  Josh explains why he took his first job out of training at Kaiser, the reasons he left to form a private practice, and the factors he sees as most important in guiding those career choices.

Josh shares his experiences with innovation, his thoughts on investing, and the benefits and challenges of his role as a professor at Stanford.

David then asks Josh about his thoughts on the growing trend of mergers and acquisitions in plastic surgery and why he got involved in writing the book The Business of Plastic Surgery, for which David and his partners contributed a chapter.

Josh concludes with two pieces of advice for younger plastic surgeons.

What You’ll Learn:

• What interested Josh in medicine generally, and plastics specifically
• Josh’s interest in art and sculpture and his advice for plastics residents on that topic
• Korman’s thoughts on investing: what he learned from some patients, what he has learned to avoid, the way humans think about winning or losing money
• Why Josh took his first job out of training at Kaiser Permanente
• His philosophy on the importance of liking who you work with
• Josh’s views s on why one shouldn’t let the financial element be the most important in choosing between private, employed or academic settings
• The benefits and challenges of being in academia
• Josh’s thoughts about the consolidation in plastic surgery and what he thinks other plastic surgeons should be doing in this M&A environment
• Why he got involved in writing the book The Business of Plastic Surgery
• Josh’s two pieces of advice for younger physicians

Resources:

• David Mandell: Bio
• Dr. Josh Korman: Bio
• Your Money & Your Brain
• The Business of Plastic Surgery