Published: 18 December 2023
St George’s alumnus Dr Christodoulos Kaoutzanis has been named America's Best Plastic Surgeon by Newsweek for 2023.
Christodoulos, who graduated from St George’s in 2008, received the award for the categories of Breast Augmentation, Facelift, Liposuction, and Rhinoplasty.
A rewarding moment
Speaking on the success, Chris says:
"It is a great honour to receive such an award and be recognised by my peers for expertise in the plastic surgery field.
- Dr Christodoulos Kaoutzanis -
"The ranking for this award is based on various data sources including online surveys by medical experts with knowledge of plastic surgery, quality scores, and certification, so I feel that the recognition is even more meaningful. It is a rewarding moment for my career.
"The recognition is encouragement to keep doing what I love to do every day, work even harder to further refine my skills, and continue to advance the field."
- Dr Christodoulos Kaoutzanis -
Plastic surgery is fascinating and diverse
Discussing the discipline of plastic surgery more generally Chris adds:
“Plastic surgery is fascinating and diverse. Throughout medical school and general surgery residency, my exposure to plastic surgery gradually broadened, and with it my desire to pursue further training in plastic and reconstructive surgery grew ever stronger.
"This desire was reinforced by the influence of many plastic surgeons I worked with. Their strong personalities, competitive yet cooperative spirits, focus-on-detail along with their technical precision, dexterity and everlasting zeal to learn taught and inspired me.
"To this day, I still find the physical, creative, and intellectual challenge of restoring shape and function from head to toe particularly captivating."
- Dr Christodoulos Kaoutzanis -
St George's instrumental to success
Reflecting on how St George’s prepared him for his career, Chris says:
“St George’s was instrumental to my success - I received great training during my time at the university.
"As St George’s medical students, we worked hard, gained knowledge, built resilience, and had a strong our work ethic which developed a robust professional foundation and prepared me well for surgical training.
- Dr Christodoulos Kaoutzanis -
"Over the years, I was able to build on the foundation St George’s provided to get to where I am today.”
Advice for medical students
In terms of advice for current St George’s students, Chris identifies hard work and clarity of vision as crucial in attaining success commenting:
“My advice for medical students would be to first decide what they want to do. That clarity will lead to goal setting from which they can follow their dreams.
"Getting to the final destination might not be easy, but it is certainly very gratifying, and worth the time and effort."
- Dr Christodoulos Kaoutzanis -
Many congratulations Chris!