Benjamin Gelfant MD

From Benjamin Gelfant MD

Every patient has a story of interest.

One of the great pleasures in the practice of medicine, which has often been lost in the rush to diagnosis and treatments, is the personal encounter which leads to a relationship based on trust and understanding.

Surgery is “craft”, raised to a profound level of “artisanship”.

Artisan craft making requires constant practice and refinement. In this way, plastic surgery is like fine woodworking, stone masonry, furniture building, make-up artistry, hair styling, set building, hand-crafted fly-tying for fishing (one of my hobbies), or tailoring. There is deep satisfaction in well-executed craft.

There is still that “Eureka” moment

Putting together a difficult diagnosis and a treatment plan that ultimately works is an extraordinary experience. Back when I was fresh out my internship and doing general practice in a small town in the Interior, I put back together man’s life when I made the complex diagnosis of both diabetes and hyperthyroidism when he had been repeatedly told his diabetes being uncontrolled was his fault. I got him to see a specialist, they treated his thyroid, his diabetes settled down ( he was having repeated, life threatening, hypoglycemic episodes) and his life was immeasurably improved.

I often get the same profound satisfaction in my plastic surgery practice. Sometimes there are complex revisions of prior procedures and sometimes it comes from something as simple as removing a skin cancer under local anaesthetic.