How my artistic background has helped me in my carieer in plastic surgery? Even as a child I was interested in drawing and painting. I started painting with oil at the age of ten. In high school, I took it more seriously and was considering a career in the arts. My father was very much against that idea and encouraged me to become a plastic surgeon. He used to say artists can’t make a living and most of them starve to death. He said, “There is only one Picasso and what are the chances that you will be like him?” When I went to medical school in Switzerland, I continued to draw and paint, although very infrequently. Now I rarely have the time to dedicate to art, but the artistic vision has it’s own merit. I think an artist sees things that other people don’t see. We all look at the world around us, but a great photographer frames the world that he sees into works of art. This vision allows us to appreciate the world in a different way, appreciating the beauty in nature or in the human face and body.
I know plastic surgeons who are great technicians and knowledgeable, but this is not enough. One needs to have a good idea of what shape they want to create. If one can’t draw it or model it in clay, how could they create it out of live flesh? I believe plastic surgery is a form of art and being an artist is extremely helpful in achieving better than average results. What is important is the final product, the vision of what shape one wants to achieve.
Sample of Dr. Rafizadeh’s Art Work. Please copy and paste the link below.
http://www.faceandeyes.com/rafizadeh.html