Scheduling a Consultation and Surgery

Whether you are local to Southern California or traveling from out of town, our patient coordinator, Vicki Koplow, is the direct liaison for all patients. If you are traveling from out of town for surgery, rest assured that Vicki understands the many details that must be handled to make the experience pleasant and convenient.

Starting Your Plastic Surgery Journey

The consultation process usually starts with an email or phone call to Vicki. Please also fill out the request form below. Instructions for properly taking photos and uploading them are on the Photo Upload page in the Resources category. Vicki will then schedule a telephone or Skype consultation between you and Dr. Teitelbaum. He will listen to what you want and determine a surgical plan.

While Dr. Teitelbaum can usually determine what a patient wants to do during the virtual consultation, the plan is obviously only tentative until he sees you in person, which he always wants to do a day or two before the scheduled surgery. When you return home, your care will continue via ongoing telephone calls, emails, or Skype conversations.

Is there a fee for my consultation?

Many plastic surgeons who offer complimentary meetings actually pass you off to a "cosmetic consultant" or patient coordinator, or they may spend only a few moments with you.

As Dr. Teitelbaum schedules a large block of time for each prospective patient, and will always take as much time as you need to discuss your desires and your concerns, he does charge for the consultation, and the fee is applied to surgery. There is usually an array of surgical options available, each with different costs, risks, recovery times, scars, and results.

It is Dr. Teitelbaum's goal to explore these issues as thoroughly as possible, so that you can make a truly informed choice about what you want done. Whether you have the surgery done with Dr. Teitelbaum, by someone else, or not at all, you will leave with a dramatically enhanced understanding of your situation.

Scheduling A Surgery

Dr. Teitelbaum requires a consultation with all patients before performing their surgery. But if you have a specific time frame in mind, contact Vicki Koplow, and she can tentatively place you on the surgery schedule.

Out-of-Town Patients

If you are from out of town and unable to travel for a separate consultation in advance, she will arrange either a telephone consultation or a Skype consultation. In these situations, Dr. Teitelbaum will want to see you the day before surgery so that he can examine you and go through everything again.

There are times that patients have significant choices to mull over before surgery, options that cannot be determined until the inpatient consultation. When Dr. Teitelbaum anticipates these situations, he may ask you to come to town several days before surgery to give you time to think through your choices.

Local Patients

Local patients should schedule an in-person consultation with Dr. Teitelbaum. He suggests that you schedule your consultation as far in advance of your surgery as possible to allow ample time to obtain your laboratory tests, X-rays, and other necessary preoperative clearance items, and to ensure that there will be availability on the schedule during the period you wish to have your surgery. It also gives you the chance to meet Dr. Teitelbaum multiple times to ask him questions about your surgery.