In the past, Plastic Surgery were words that begged weird stares and with it our mind recalls images of celebrities who’ve gone under the knife. Today however, plastic surgery is normalized. Year after year, getting “work done” becomes more accessible and more acceptable. Several things that people do not know about being a plastic surgeon are the years invested into getting a medical degree, specializing in surgery then plastic surgery. Besides beautifying and enhancing a person’s look, plastic surgeons deal with many other cases such as trauma calls, working with kids who have cleft lip and cleft palate, carrying out breast cancer reconstruction and fixing complications. In this interview, we get a glimpse of Dr. Nasir’s life before he specialized in plastic surgery and his perspective now as a plastic surgeon. If you’ve ever sat in any of Dr. Nasir’s medical talks, you’ll come to know him as an extremely down-to-earth person despite bearing the title Consultant Plastic, Reconstructive & Cosmetic Surgeon and Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre’s Medical Director. He makes complicated talks relatable by thoughtfully simplifying medical jargons and further backing it up with a plethora of visuals. Enjoy this short interview below!
Dr Nasir, how and when did your interest in cosmetic surgery develop?
This goes a long way back. I was doing my undergraduates when I developed my interest in surgery. I loved surgery because there were a lot of ‘actions’, in other words, a lot of work. After I completed my undergraduate, I did my Masters in Surgery, where I was exposed to a lot of different fields, and one of them was of course plastic surgery. I took interest in it because they’re like Science integrated with the Arts. There was freedom in expressing your skills and creativity in a way in your work instead of being very technical, for example appendicitis where you treat the cause of the problem and that’s it. Plastic surgery is different because in a way you reconstruct things, be it reconstructive like breast cancer or purely cosmetics where you do breast augmentations or having a nicer face, all these involves a lot of art and planning in it because it’s not like you are just removing skin and you’re good to go. Patient’s emotions are important too, so that plays a big part. It’s just very interesting. So yes, it was during the period where I was doing my post graduate study that I thought this was an interesting surgical field.
How do you unwind and take your mind off work?
In all honesty, I’m a very homely person. I’m a family man. I don’t play golf and all that but I’m more into family activity like going to movies, travelling together. I’m into family. I hardly eat out too so that’s why I pack food most days from home. I love home cooking.
In your opinion, what is a woman’s most powerful asset?
I think it’s their emotions. I’m not saying that men do not have emotions but female have a different kind of emotions, they feel more deeply about things and that’s how they go about daily in their day to day activities, like their job. Emotions are powerful in a way when you put emotions into what you do, you tend to be more committed and you are more likely to achieve the goals you’ve set out to achieve. On the contrary, without emotions, you are just doing things like a robot. That’s why in plastic surgery, where around 80 to 90 percent of them are women, in order to treat them well, you have to tend to their emotions. To understand what they have in mind, what is it that they desire, what are they trying to achieve, it is trying to impress herself or her family, her husband or friends, rather than just giving them this face, that eyelid, that nose or breasts. Unless you understand her intentions, you can end up doing a very nice job but patients can still be unhappy because you do not cater to the emotional aspect of the picture. Emotions are women’s greatest asset.
If you weren’t a cosmetic doctor, you would be….
An aeronautical engineer. After completing my SPM examinations, I was actually selected and was supposed to be sent to Texas in the US to study Aeronautical engineering. In fact, I was already booked to fly there, so if back then I embarked on that journey, I would be an engineer now, making and repairing planes. My interest back then was in engineering but back in those days, families had a more narrow and traditional set of thinking on jobs where only by working as doctors and lawyers that you are considered to have ‘succeeded’ in life.
Favourite food?
Home cooked food. I appreciate home cooking, the satisfaction to eat at home is different from when I eat outside, so that’s why I don’t go out to restaurants a lot. When I do eat outside, it’s more about socialization. But it’s still the home cooked food that I’ll be satisfied with. I’m more down to earth and simple.
Favourite ice-cream flavor?
Actually I don’t really take ice-cream. Both ice-creams and cakes are actually not my favourite because they are too sweet and too creamy. And I don’t know what is it call, is it food, is it dessert, I’m not even sure myself. But I like things that are chocolaty.
Looking to get a consultation? Make an appointment with Dr. Nasir today or visit the professionals at Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre.
