Meet Narayanan Nair | Double Board-Certified Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon

We had the good fortune of connecting with Narayanan Nair and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Narayanan, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When taking care of peoples’ loved ones mitigating risk is paramount. Medicine is a science and not math, thus even for the smallest procedures, risk is ever present. However, it is our job to thoroughly and honestly discuss the levels of risk that are associated with each procedure. Together as a team, myself and my patients come to an understanding that will create the greatest amount of benefit and least amount of risk. Risk stratification can be different for each patient and evoke different levels of comfort in different physicians.

Taking risks safely is the key to good care. Being able to help a population that would be otherwise ignored is greatly satisfying. For instance, there is a lot of controversy over BMI. I feel it is racially biased and does not allow certain patients the cosmetic and health benefits of surgery. Although research has supported excluding this population, I am currently working on research to support its safety. This kind of research is needed to push our field forward and to codify techniques and safeguards to be able to offer surgery to a wider population

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a plastic surgeon I try to be aggressive but safe. I try to include a large population that would otherwise be ignored or rejected. However, I have a good understanding of the research and I always try to back up my decision making with literature. There are things I do not agree with or things that can be done differently and from my viewpoint in either a safer or better manner. I think it’s important to push the limit to further the field, but as physicians we walk a fine line between results and safety. The key to good care is good training, constant involvement in patient’s post-op care and communication. One of the most important things of surgery I have learned along the way is learning to say no. There are some patients in which plastic surgery is not an option or cannot be done safely or does not have a favorable risk profile. It is often hard to say no to these patients, but it is imperative. Often it can feel like I care more about the patient’s safety than they do themselves because in their desperation to have plastic surgery they feel the risks don’t apply to them or that they can beat the odds. That is a dangerous thought process and often in itself will disqualify them from surgery. People who come in overly negative also shouldn’t be having plastic surgery. I spend a lot of time to try and make patients feel comfortable and confident with the journey they are about to start, both the good and bad. In the rare event where the patient and I are not on the same page for any reason at all, I will refuse to operate on them for their own safety.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I barely get to see my best friend due to distance and our work schedules. But we both like smoking hookah so I would take him to some places here in Miami. We both love Chinese food and dim sum but I haven’t been able to find good Chinese food here so we’re still looking! I would definitely take him to the beaches and if the weather was good, we would try and get on the water and maybe do a little jet skiing. We both love basketball so we would try and catch a Heat game. If it was football season, we would also catch a Dolphins-Bills game in order to watch the Bills win! There also tons of concerts and stand-up comedy shows in Miami, so we would try and catch one of those.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First, I would first like to thank God for everything. I would also like to acknowledge my wife Cristina and my kids for their tolerance of my work demands. I would also like to thank my parents Madhavan and Rema Nair for all their belief and support in me always.

My development as a surgeon has always been built on the training I have received and the giants that have preceded me. Every single surgeon that has helped to train me I owe a debt of gratitude.

Website: www.nairplasticsurgery.com

Instagram: Nairplasticsurgery

Image Credits
NairPlasticSurgery