Extraction or placement requires doctor's skills

[needmyhairback]

Hi everyone!

I see some doctors performs the extraction themselves and have the techs do the placement, while some others do the placement and let the techs do the extraction. I am wondering which step is more important to the results and requires doctor's skills. To me it seems like placement is more critical to the results, but apparently many top doctors let their techs do that. Should I choose a doctor based on whether he/she performs placement or extraction himself/herself?

Edited April 14, 2023 by needmyhairback

[Melvin- Admin]

They’re both important, the most important thing is the clinics track record. A doctor could be terrible at extracting and placing grafts. The fact that the doctor does it themselves doesn’t guarantee success. 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@needmyhairback,

In my opinion, hair transplant surgery is best performed as a team rather than by a single individual. While the surgeon has the medical degree, they should also possess the philosophy, the process and the artistry required to perform an outstanding hair transplant. But at the end of the day, there are many different steps to perform an outstanding hair transplant and there is always somebody who is better at one particular function then another.  

Moreover, one individual would become easily fatigued which would negatively impact their overall performance if they were responsible for performing every step of the procedure by themselves.

At our clinic, Dr. Rahal is involved in every step of the hair transplant procedure but doesn’t necessarily perform every step himself. While he does place some of the follicular units, we have a dedicated, full-time staff (that Dr. Rahal oversees) who are specialists at this particular function.

I don’t want to confuse anyone. Dr. Rahal is very hands-on and is involved in every step of the procedure and is the one responsible for creating and executing the plan. He tailors each procedure based on his individual assessment of each patient and does not perform a “cookie-cutter” hair transplant for all.  His staff has been with him a very long time and together, they all operate like a well oiled machine - engineered by Dr. Rahal  

interestingly enough, when I was undergoing my first hair transplant  procedure in 2004, I was a novice and didn’t understand how things worked. So when I saw the doctor in and out of the room while I was left with the technicians, I panicked.… Inwardly of course as I didn’t say a thing until I did some research after.  But I learned afterwards that it is very normal for multiple trained and professional individuals to take part in the hair restoration process and procedure.

Don’t get me wrong. There are those doctors who will sit in their office and let their technicians do pretty much the entire procedure without any real preparation, involvement, supervising, etc. Thus, it’s critical to differentiate between world renowned surgeons who plan, run and oversee the entire process versus the neophyte or lazy surgeons who couldn’t be bothered and simply do the bare minimum in order to collect their pay.

So how do you know the difference? The answer is in the results. Not just a single result but overall consistency over many, many years. It’s also important that a physician work with the same, full-time, trained, experienced and professional staff so the process works like a well-oiled machine rather than an old, broken down train where staff is regularly overturned and/or temp technicians are hired for every procedure, etc.

I hope this helps and provides some insight into how the surgical process should and typically does work.

 Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

 

[Rafael Manelli]

I think in most countries only a doctor is allowed to cut the skin on the patient. So they will do the scoring for the extractions and the incisions for the recipient sites. Techs can dissect grafts and sliver strips however.

[ruslnaiv]

I was actually going to to ask a very similar question. 

I'm considering an HT and doing my research right now. @Eugenix  and @Dr.Ozlem Bicer are my most likely choice.

So based on the responses I got from Eugenix and also reading their website it seems like the chosen Doctor will do planning and designing and complete slits (I assume this is extraction ???) and then the reset of the work will be done by technical stuff and the Dr will only visit i think every hour or so. 

(Unfortunately I have not been able to get in touch with Dr. Bicer office yet to discuss this issue)

I understand that it's a very exhausting procedure for a single person but isn't the general practice that the doctor at least present in the room for most of the surgery? I'm following Dr. Linkov's youtube channel and that was my impression that although some work is done by technical stuff, he's there for the whole procedure and does extraction AND placement of the grafts. 

 

So how common is this approach for a doctor leaving the site and visiting every hour or so after extraction? Should I be concerned with this approach? 

 

I understand that Eugenix is in very high regard when it comes to HT but for me it seems like they are really interested in extreme cases of baldness which gives them not necessarily more money (but it does too) but more exposure, experience, material for publications, etc and these are the only cases when the Doctor would be present on site all the time.

Edited April 15, 2023 by ruslnaiv

[ScottishGuy21]

13 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

They’re both important, the most important thing is the clinics track record. A doctor could be terrible at extracting and placing grafts. The fact that the doctor does it themselves doesn’t guarantee success. 

Absolutely . Likewise if a tech is vastly experienced and been under the tutorage of an excellent Dr they could place grafts better than most Dr’s elsewhere.

Even the best Dr’s have some reliance on techs. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by ScottishGuy21

[DeltaV]

On 4/15/2023 at 8:17 AM, ruslnaiv said:

So based on the responses I got from Eugenix and also reading their website it seems like the chosen Doctor will do planning and designing and complete slits (I assume this is extraction ???)

No, slit making (incisions) is not extraction. At Eugenix from my experience, Doctor does the Slit making while the technician does the extraction which is scoring, punching, extraction and implantation into the premade slits. After slit making the doctor might go to another surgery or consultations.