Regular Member azjoe1 Posted November 1, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 1, 2010 Possibly a silly question, but when performing an FUE procdure, who typically performs the harvest portion of the procedure--the Dr. or a Technician??? I know the Dr. does the implanting of the grafts, but am unclear from some of my consultations on who harvests fromt the donar area... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spanker Posted November 1, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted November 1, 2010 Not sure about all docs, I know shapiro has a tech to harvest, from a conversation that I had with Matt. I am an online representative for Dr. Raymond Konior who is an elite member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. View Dr. Konior's Website View Spanker's Website I am not a medical professional and my opinions should not be taken as medical advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted November 2, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted November 2, 2010 Azjoe, In most cases, it is the hair transplant surgeon who removes the grafts in a follicular unit extraction (FUE) case. "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Aileen Posted November 2, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted November 2, 2010 Azjoe1 At our clinic Dr. Gabel has the staff assist him during the process, but he harvests all of the FUE grafts himself. Once the grafts have been harvested, the staff will examine them under the microscope and trim them if necessary. Dr. Gabel makes the recipient sites and then he will place the grafts with another staff member. Aileen Patient Coordinator for Dr. Steven Gabel Dr. Steven Gabel is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member gillenator Posted November 3, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted November 3, 2010 azjoe1, You ask a good yet controversial question my friend. From a clinical standpoint, it is anyone's guess who actually is harvesting the grafts during a FUE procedure. Years ago, when FUE was first introduced in North America, ONLY licensed physicians were actually doing the extractions. Why? Here comes the controversial part. It's because in most states in the US, if not all of them, only allow a licensed physician to "cut flesh or tissue". And in fact the period I am speaking of is late 2002 and into 2003, there were only several licensed doctors in the US actually performing FUE and they were new to it. There was one licensed physician in Canada doing FUE prior to 2003 and still doing it. Not that I am officially speaking for any of these doctors or clinics but this issue came up back then and the majority were also of the opinion that only a licensed physician could legally "perform" the extractions. Techs are not licensed doctors yet I hear about techs doing the extractions and/or a variation of the harvesting process. In some cases, the surgeon makes the inital cut with the punch and then passed the process to the tech to finish extraction. There was a clinic based out of Jacksonville, FL three to five years ago that was owned and operated by a tech and heard that he was doing 100% of the extractions and even did the recipient incisions. They apprently had a licensed physician "present" but the tech did the procedure hands down. I remember getting into the discussions in several forums and am still of the opinion that only a licensed physician should be performing any part of the procedure that involves "surgery". You mentioned that most of the docs place the grafts but the reality is that very few docs place the grafts. An extreme high percent of them are placed by the techs. Gillenator Independent Patient Advocate I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk. Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Glenn Charles Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 The laws regarding who can do the extractions varies from state to state. The law in Florida is very grey. I do know of some technicians that are probably better than many of the physicians that try to perform FUE. However, I do it myself because currently I am still to much of a fanatic to let someone do it for me. I would find it hard to believe that any clinic would have the technicians making the recipient sites. The doctor would have to be pretty lazy to not even do that. I do allow my surgical techs to place most of the grafts as I am sure most clinics do, but I will check every grafts with high powered loops at the end of the case to make sure everything is perfect. Dr. Glenn Charles is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member scar5 Posted November 3, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted November 3, 2010 Silly question? - Azjoe, you are being coy, but I like it!! It is very fun to play with this question. To answer your question literally Three patterns I'm aware of- 1) Doc punches and extracts 2) Doc punches, tech extracts (the follicle is still iin place, tech plucks it out) 3) tech punches and extracts Runs the gambit of form patents, accountability of results -ethical, technical , legal issues and even makes you think about the whole strip thing, where the doc doe the take-away steak and the techs chop it up away from the scalp My two cents, I hope techs learn to do it and do it well. Doc's have to play with their kids and can't spend all day on your head and go home smiling. And I don't want that to be a reason that the patient gets talked into strip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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