TheRealDrMiami

Dr. Michael Salzhauer is a highly esteemed plastic surgeon in Miami, Florida. He offers a wide range of services, from nose jobs and Brazilian Butt Lifts (BBL), to breast augmentations and tummy tucks, and is somewhat of a social media superstar. Currently, "Dr. Miami," has about 100,000 followers on Snapchat, where he broadcasts footage of some of his patient's surgeries.

Each story is 20-30 minutes of short, 10 second snippets of the surgeries he performs throughout the day, which seem to be mostly BBLs and tummy tucks. The Snaps usually consist of some short monologues by Dr. Miami about how he got to be where he is or even dating advice for his viewers, and ends each day with shoutouts and birthday wishes.

Of course, Dr. Miami has the patients who are interested in being featured on his Snapchat story (about half) sign a consent form in order to stay clear of any HIPPA violations, but might there be some ethical issues? 

The Stories often feel like something out of a reality show where Dr. Miami and his coworkers sing and dance to Fetty Wap, and talk about daily happenings... but in the operating room. The fat removed from patient's undergoing a BBL is referred to as "booty cheese," and skin excised from tummy tuck patients is held up like a trophy. Although Dr. Miami says that his Story updates only take out about 4 minutes of the 2 hour surgeries, is it irrational to suggest that the rest of the OR time is much different?

While there may be some educational opportunities here, it seems that this practice may give a bad name to plastic surgery as a whole. 

Dr. Miami can be followed on Snapchat at:

TheRealDrMiami

Here is a Buzzfeed article done on Dr. Miami: 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/snapchat-surgeon-dr-miami#.lsQVrG01w

And here is a link to his private practice, where you can read more about him:

http://balharboursurgery.com/