This month’s professional spotlight features Dr. ChiChi Berhane, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon as well as owner of Tailor Made Looks Institute of Plastic Surgery & MedSpa. Read this month’s spotlight to learn more about Dr. Berhane, his work, and his path to becoming a surgeon.
Could you briefly explain some of your responsibilities in your current career role?
As a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon my main responsibility is patient care and surgical intervention. Owning my own plastic surgery practice, Tailor Made Looks Institute of Plastic Surgery & MedSpa, gives me the opportunity to utilize my studies from the MBA program at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to continually expand and grow the practice. In 2018 we had the pleasure of opening a MedSpa and will soon be opening our very own Tailor Made Looks Surgery Center. Working as the Director of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at The Shepherd Center, I see patients in clinic, perform minor procedures and surgical intervention to assist reconstructive surgery.
How did you come to decide that this was the right career path for you?
Plastic surgery distinguished itself to me as a medical student as a sophisticated specialty of tremendous breath with a practical focus. Its combination of elective and emergent cases and its range of therapeutic options that exemplify the scope of the field. In addition, plastic surgery impacts all ages, genders and backgrounds. It includes being able to operate on the entire body from congenital abnormally, trauma and aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.
What do you like most about being a plastic surgeon?
My ability to change lives, as a plastic surgeon I have the ability to provide many patients a level of confidence they have never had before or had at one point and lost. To see the transformation and how it directly enhances their quality is very rewarding.
When performing reconstructive surgery I am also providing life changing procedures that have the ability to improve my patients quality of life and in most cases extend the life of my patients.
Is there a philosophy that drives your career?
Our mission at Tailor Made Looks is to provide a physical transformation that will propel our patients towards a healthier body, self-image, and more enriched life.
Personally, as a physician, The Oath of Hippocrates has always resonated with me and is something that I have posted throughout my practice to serve as a daily reminder. The Oath surrounds the fundamentals of human decency in direct relation to medicine – committing loyalty, generosity, uprightness and honor in my life and work as a doctor.
What are the fundamentals of navigating business in medicine? Any plans on expanding Tailor Made Looks?
The fundamental of navigating business in medicine is being able to adapt and consider a new strategic framework to increase positive margin and lower health care cost. We are just days away from the opening of our surgical center! Having my own surgery center gives me the opportunity to ensure the patient’s aesthetic surgical experience exceeds expectations from start to finish.
Our surgery center differs from others as a self-standing, private building with multiple private entrances and exits. With patient safety being our first priority, we consciously placed our facility a few blocks away from the Piedmont Hospital, ER, to have direct access to the best emergency care in Georgia. We are equipped with state of the are surgical equipment and the latest minimally invasive surgical technology. Our board-certified surgical staff and anesthesia team have 30 years of combined experience to provide the same level of care and safety you would find undergoing a procedure in a major hospital.
What do you consider to be your greatest professional accomplishment?
As a surgeon, operating on patients in underserved areas, being able to interact with a diverse group of people and provide surgical care that is normally unavailable to them provides me with the highest level of fulfillment.
Having served on the board for many non-profit organizations, I also am thankful for my ability to contribute to the decision making in providing the highest quality of care to all.
What is some advice you would give someone looking to transition into your line of work?
I would ensure that they are aware that to be a surgeon takes hard work and dedication – but it is well worth it to see how impactful the procedures are on a patient’s happiness and quality of life.
What are some ways you give back to the community?
I started volunteering as a teenager, to make any impact that I can in people’s lives. For as far back as I can remember I have taken annual mission trips with medical/surgical missions to underserved countries to provide surgical intervention to adults and children.
As we prepare for the opening of our surgical center we plan to provide charity surgical intervention to patients who do not have means to fund their procedures, including but not limited to service men and women, the disabled and the uninsured.
I work closely with Operation Smile, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, The Shepherd Center and Habitat for Humanity in any way that I can to contribute to their mission to bring quality care to all, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
Outside of all of your hard work and efforts toward building your brand, what do you do for fun? Hobbies?
My favorite thing to do for fun is to play soccer with my son! Movie nights and outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing and water activities with my family, I normally enjoy attending Atlanta Flacons and Atlanta FC games, trying new restaurants, shopping and traveling.