My Social Media Policy

I use social media (this website, my Twitter account and Facebook fanpage for our MedSpa) for numerous purposes:  Education, information exchange, entertainment, keeping up with family and friends, discussions with prospective patients, and as a conduit for existing patients to contact me.  I choose not to distinguish between my personal and professional life because I feel that being a doctor doesn't define me. I think it's disingenuous to separate the two. 

That being said, I must delineate some guidelines:

• Any medical information given out is not given out as advice. If we haven't met in one of my terrestrial offices, we don't have a doctor-patient relationship, and you should contact your doctor.  If you are one of my patients, please don't ask me questions other than "Can you have your office contact me?" because Twitter is not secure, and HIPAA violations are possible (and I don't take risks).
• If I retweet something, it doesn't mean I endorse it. It means that I think the original tweet is useful, funny, important, smart, etc.
• In the words of my friend @hrana, "My blog posts and Twitter status updates are not medical, legal, ethical, financial, moral, political, or any other form of advice, suggestion, or recommendation."

Other than that, please engage me.  I like bacon.

Comments

[concerned]

You constantly speak of the medi spa doctor. But are you any different? You did not do any special training in Facial Plastic Surgery did you? YOu had no specialized training in these procedures, and i doubt very much if your ENT residency ever allowed you to be the primary surgeon on a cosmetic case. You are in it for the money. Cosmetics is a cash cow and you know it. You went where the money is. You did not choose to invest the extra time and effort to do additional training. Training that you describe as so importnat. Wonder why?

[Bobby Ghaheri, MD]

Thanks for your comment! Actually, my training program is one of the most prominent facial plastic surgery programs in the nation. I spent 1 full year of my training (not a weekend) doing only facial plastic surgery. I was primary surgeon on numerous cosmetic surgical procedures, including rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, brow lift etc. I don't do face lifts anymore because I agree that you need further training to do a face lift effectively. That's why I turn to laser for my facial rejuvenation.

I actually am different from other MedSpa doctors because I don't rely on my MedSpa income for my livelihood. They do. They don't practice other kinds of medicine anymore - they've abandoned their board certification and jumped ship. My board certification INCLUDES facial plastic surgery, but it also includes other aspect of ENT, which I practice.

If you'd like to discuss this further, please email me. But considering that you commented anonymously, I'm guessing I won't hear from you in person =)