I always pick up Spirit magazine when I fly Southwest Airlines. It has great articles, great games, and even entertaining ads. When we started working with Renaissance, I pulled out the ad for plastic surgeons, intending to ask what they thought of the Best Plastic Surgeons section.
Turns out, in many, many lists, the Best Plastic Surgeons are those willing to pay for the privilege of being listed in the magazine. It's like the Who's Who scam, where you pay for directory and then get listed. It doesn't mean anything. Now, I have no personal knowledge of how Spirit magazine picks their surgeons, but Rob Oliver points us to one such company that allows you to pay for placement.
I was pleased (snark!) to find out via the mail today that I am now officially one of "America's Top Surgeons" as recognized by the "Consumers' Research Council of America" (CRCA). Ever heard of it? Me neither.
What do you have to do to be recognized? Have a medical license and a credit card to buy their over-priced cheezy swag plaques and knick-knacks to impress patients with as far as I can tell.
The sad part of the story, as Rob points out, is that a patient is just as likely to find his practice through a meaningless promotional directory as they are through his skills and licenses. That's why plastic surgeons market their services. We oftentimes aren't competing with each other, but rather with the myriad "solutions" promoted and marketed by those who aren't surgeons.
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