Dr. Sam Lam Plastic Surgery Forum

If you are passionate about what you do, what seems to be the case around here, how and why did you discover what your "call" was?
Why did you pick the profession or occupation you work at?
What motivated you and what keeps on motivating you?

The first part of your answer was a long road of refinement for me. When I finished medical school, I competed for a very competitive spot in head and neck surgery at Columbia U. What motivated me at that time was simply the intricacy of the head and neck region and the ability to address all disease states through the use of both medicine and surgery, i.e., not everyone needed cutting on to cure the problem. About half way through my residency a very patrician and stately gentleman, Gene Tardy, from Chicago, who was actually my fellowship director's fellowship director, came to speak about rhinoplasty at my institution. I was literally enthralled with what he had to say and show. It sparked my creativity and passion. I knew that at that point that I would have to undergo a fellowship in facial plastic surgery. The passion I had with this exciting field of cosmetic surgery for the face was abetted by the absolute misery of insurance here in the United States. I was excited to enter a field that I could dictate all levels of care, including my compensation.

I went to 18 different interviews across the United States and settled on training with a gentleman, Dr. Williams, who is beyond a gentleman. He taught me more than how to become a surgeon: he taught me how to become a man and I mean a gentleman. Whenever the S--- would hit the fan in the OR, he would always blame himself never the scrub assistant. I will say that he taught me more about life than about just being a surgeon. He built a 25,000 sq.ft. center (of course, that is why I built a 27,150 sq.ft. ctr.) which taught me the principles of how to run a business. Even though there is practically not a single surgical technique that I use from my fellowship: I truly have refined everything that I do, I owe everything to Dr. W. He was truly an incredible mentor to me and still is.

I am truly blessed in many ways. I love my staff and my staff loves me. Growing up as an Asian boy in Texas in the 1980s, I encountered a lot of overt and covert racism. Leadership was far from my thought of who I could be. I was always a follower. It was not until my early 30s and beyond that I started to realize that I had a natural gift of leadership and reading emotions intuitively. By putting this massive wellness center together and owning the spa and salon, it has taught me incalculable lessons on reading human nature and being able to elicit the best in humanity. I truly think a great CEO is someone who can read people and be able to inspire them to greatness. In short, I am a good cheerleader (minus the skirt of course). I love being able to influence an entire building and put every person in there in sync and in harmony with my philosophy, work ethic, and passion. When you enter my building you will never want to leave it because it is not just me but everyone that has pulled themselves into my core philosophy.

I wrote in a blog a few days ago about how at 12 years old I boiled down what I loved into two things: "art" especially by doing things with my hands and becoming a specialist in the medical field. Wow, that is dead on right. I absolutely love beautiful things and have a natural eye for aesthetics. I have a hard time relating to people that do not have an aesthetic eye. People that are drawn to me are drawn to my vision of what I can achieve cosmetically. Those people who do not share my vision, my passion, my aesthetics, don't pick me as a surgeon. I am fine with that. I never beg anyone to be a patient. If anything, I turn a heaping number away. In fact, I have discouraged people who have flown here from across the world after meeting them in person if I think I am going to waste their money. I do not sell someone, instead I educate that person and build a trusting relationship.

Art and passion for aesthetics (and I mean all things beautiful) infuse every element of my being and life. That is why I controlled every element of my building including actively collaborating with the architect, guiding the creation of the spa (although I will give full credit to the designers and architects with whom I have had the fortune to work), all the stationery, signage, brochures, folders, logos (including for my tenants and other businesses), and of course art.

How do I burnish or maintain that passion? Two ways: One is that I love what I do so I don't have to burnish it. Two, I love people. I love having fun every day and meeting new people, seeing old friends, and laughing with my staff. My staff knows intimately that I am not here to sell anyone anything but to take care of people. They know if someone needs my help who cannot afford my services (and I am talking about reconstructive), I will do it for free. In fact, I remember a time a year ago when I was taking care of a deaf African-American's keloids without a charge, I realized that I had forgotten to write prescriptions. My staff member, Dianne, had already quietly paid for his medications. That speaks about her character and integrity and her buy-in to the singular focus of my vision: helping people. Anyone that thinks cosmetic surgery is a joke or a trivial pursuit does not enter my building or stay with me. That is not how I look at my mission in life, and that is not how my staff looks at it. We are all deeply impassioned by what we are put on this planet to do. That's it in a nutshell. Thanks for your question.
best,
sml

What a wonderful story to read. Thanks for sharing!

thanks!

I am SO glad someone asked this question. Great answer-- I could NEVER imagine you weren't always just about like you are and frankly I'm really, really befuddled at parts of that but I'm not going into it here. Hey-I am in Japan as I type on the house-lap-top so forgive more errors than usual.

It's nearly 4 on Saturday afternoon--waiting on bicycle rentals (it's about 200 degrees Fahr. and ALL bicycles are being used!!! Infer as you may!!! Hey Dr. L-did you know about this? We can't rent a car as neither of us possesses "international" driver's license.....we love renting a car and going off to explore. Concierge here tells us you get one if you are EU member.

To include something useful and pertinent to p.s.: Dr. Lam's always harping about sun damage, proper sunscreen, etcetera...recently he mentioned (if I recall correctly) Asians/sun.....almost all the women here, of every age, carry a sunbrella--we've been shopping and my husband is SHOCKED at how the women are MOBBING the umbrellas/sunbrellas--they range from inexpensive to $$$ with uva/uvb blockage mentioned as a selling point. They are truly being used here as fashion accessories. My daughter and I each purchased one today and LOVE keeping the sun off our skin.

wow, thanks for sharing even from halfway across the globe. that is exciting. i know how Asians abhor the sun. if Americans did the same, I would be out of business! (just kidding guys.) I find cultural differences always interesting. have a wonderful time there. when you get back and come to our spa (i hope you will), you will love meeting Daigo who is half Japanese and half white (broken further to 1/4 Spanish and 1/4 Italian). He is from Brazil and speaks Japanese, English, and Portuguese perfectly fluently. He is a sweet young man and helps with our Japanese foot detox. Have a great time in Japan!!!
sml

I'll just tuck this in right here so as not to open a new thread....

Just watched the segment on Telemundo and your Spanish sounded very good!! You seemed to me a bit more animated speaking Spanish...you usually (JMHO) keep a bit of a poker face.

It's a little ridiculous how many things you do well. Seriously. G came in, looked at the t.v. and said, "Oh, he speaks Spanish, too, of course!!" and we laughed. You see, I'm sure it'll pass, but for a while it's been this 'thang, we think it's not fair, not right that one person is so good at so much. In church a few weeks ago, a visiting chamber group was playing and the violinist happened to be Chinese, with glasses, with the name Lam. G said "He plays the VIOLIN!" (arrggh) and I said, "His hair's still wet from swimming the English channel this morning, too!"

O.k. 'Hope that isn't offensive to you and you realize it's admiration and maybe a bit of envy. You often make me wish I'd worked harder in school, heck, worked harder every way. I know that's why you're you.

Best! Oh, and have great fun in NYC!! Now I'M jealous!!

thanks! that's funny. or should i say, "gracias!"?
sml

[quote="dr. lam"]Daigo who is half Japanese and half white (broken further to 1/4 Spanish and 1/4 Italian). He is from Brazil and speaks Japanese, English, and Portuguese perfectly fluently. He is a sweet young man and helps with our Japanese foot detox. sml[/quote]

First of all, please tell Daigo CONGRATS because it's the 100th anniversary of the Brasiilan Japanese's Community!!!

How long did he live in Brasil? was he in Sao Paulo??

Oh, I would enjoy so much talking to him! He might be too busy, but at least say hello to him from me, tell him there's a woman from Uruguay in the board who adores Brasil and its people and spends every single day of vacation there .

I have no single Japanese gene in my genetic pool, but yes Spanish and Italian .

Funny that speaking of our "passions" Brazil was brought up. Brazilian culture, music and people are one of my pasions! not to mention Florianopolis in particular. That city/island has totally stolen my heart! I also have been to other areas of Brazil and loved them all. Rio took my breath away, Porto Alegre and all Rio Grande ressembles so much my own country and capital city!

Anyway, wonderful to know that there is a "beloved neighbor citize" working for you! Please say hi to him from me.

I don't know where he is from. I'll see if he can respond in this blog.
best,
sml

Hi there!!!!! I was born in bahia, but I also lived in Sao Paulo....Both places are fantastic. So, do you speak portuguese???

Oi Daigo!
Thank you for showing up!! I was really eager to "meet" you

I live in Uruguay, but adore Brazil! I would live in Florianopolis if I could .

See, I read and understand perfectly well Portuguese, but my spelling is not good enough, I don't dare writing almost anything in it down *LOL*.

I have been to Bahia!! What a colorful, exotic place! So unlike anywhere else, even compared to other places in Brazil!

I have stayed in Itaparica, actually, but visited Salvador, of course .

If one day you feel like talking or sharing or asking something, just drop me a PM.
From what Dr Lam has told us, you are one very cool person and you must be someone interesting to talk to!

Don't you miss Brazil? The moqueca de camarao? the feijoada ? The music...?

BTW, I watch the news and Brazilian TV everyday. Not sure if you get Brazilians channel by the cable company you have. If you don't, don't hesitate to ask me to find out about something you heard on the news and want to know more about, ok?? Or to look up for some info for you of some kind, even get you a book, DVD or something that you have not been able to get there.

What are some of the authors or singers or music from Brazil that you like?
Any show from there that you get to watch?
Or one you liked but now can't? If that's the case, you let me know and I can tape it for you, then send you the DVD with the shows or music you are looking for.

I won't be going to Brazil this month nor the next one, but I always go twice or three times a year, and I gladly would buy you something you need if you want me to, or find out an info you'd need, or whatever you might need!

So, thank you for dropping by!!

Ate logo, muito prazer de conhecer voce :). Meu nome, eu acho que sera mais facil pra voce me falar, e Elena. Se vc prefere, a gente pode falar por orkut.
Abraço desde Uruguay

Oie....entao, eu vou ao Brazil pelo menos uma vez por ano, mas esse ano nao vai dar pra mim ir por que estou retornando para o Japao no fim deste mes...Si vc quiser me achar no orkut, meu nome completo eh Anderson Daigo Takayama...vc tbm parece ser muito bacana!!!! meu msn eh daigotakayama@hotmail.com!!! um bjao!!!!!

man, i didn't know i needed a translator for this site! thanks Daigo for participating and thanks for the kind words in my blogs!
best,
sml

[quote="daigo"]Oie....entao, eu vou ao Brazil pelo menos uma vez por ano, mas esse ano nao vai dar pra mim ir por que estou retornando para o Japao no fim deste mes...Si vc quiser me achar no orkut, meu nome completo eh Anderson Daigo Takayama...vc tbm parece ser muito bacana!!!! meu msn eh daigotakayama@hotmail.com!!! um bjao!!!!![/quote]

Legal!! Eu vou te escrever no Orkut! Provavlemente amanha, ta?
Quando vc venha para Brasil, me avisa! quem sabe si a gente pode se conhecer em pessoa!
Minha familia e eu adorariamos tamben te ajudar a conhecer Uruguay si vc decide vir!
Abraço!

Mr Lam, we exchanged data to be able to chat on a Brazilian site where one can meet online

you can always ask what we said