“We obviously have patients of all ethnicities and ages,” Williams said. “That’s the wonderful thing about plastic surgery is that we operate on everyone.”
This reality contrasts with how plastic surgery is often presented in the media and how it is perceived by laypeople, Williams noted.
“I think sometimes cosmetic surgery gets a bad rap because of the kinds of things we see on TV, but it’s a different form of self-care in my opinion, and that’s one of the reasons why it became popular,” Williams said. “It’s a way of taking control and changing things externally to match what they are internally.”
While the doors of Williams and other plastic surgeons are open to people of diverse backgrounds and motivations, he said the feeling that one deserves the type of personal care he offers is not something that everyone experiences in the same way – something that struck him after carrying out work on a nurse and a friend of his.
“She said ‘I want to thank you because I didn’t think it was OK for me to want this for myself,’ and it really struck me on such a deep level that people in our society feel like they don’t have the power. the right to feel what they want to feel,” Williams said.
Williams aims to address this and other inequities during his tenure as president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and throughout his career, with his upcoming presidency also symbolizing change for the long-standing organization .
“I’m the first African-American president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and they’ve been around for 93 years, so that’s a long time and it’s probably a little overdue,” Williams said. “I really try to look at this as an opportunity to continue to lead the way and open doors.”
It’s in the best interest of his field and medicine in general, according to Williams.
“All medical specialties are really stronger when they are diverse, and that’s because it’s important for patients to be able to interact and build relationships,” Williams said.
