Ilya Viacheslavovich Sergeev, a professor of plasticsurgery at the Department of Oncology and ThoracicSurgery of Moscow Regional Science and ResearchClinical Institute named after M.F. Vladimirskiy, amember of the Russian Society of Plastic Surgeons, the founder of the plastic surgery and cosmetology clinic“DoctorPlastic”, graduated from RSMU (Faculty of General Medicine) in 1992:

- I grew up in a family of doctors, so I have never been a stranger to medicine. When I was a student I started to learn Neurology, but in a while I realized that Surgery was what I was really keen on. Having graduated from University I worked as a general surgeon at Ryazan Regional Clinical Hospital for 10 years.

I became involved in plastic surgery accidentally, it wasn’t very popular then. Once an acquaintance ofmine asked me to help her get rid of an ugly scar on her belly. I agreed.  It took me some time to prepare for the operation. In the end I did it and that was a success. And at that moment I realized that It was my cup of tea.

I knew that plastic surgery training courses were available in Moscow and St.-Petersburg. I chose the latter and went there to study when I had my vacation for the next time. I attended classes, read books, gotacquainted with plastic surgeons and watch them operating. In a month I finished my studies and wasawarded with a certificate. I thought I knew almosteverything.

I started my career in the field of plastic surgery in Ryazan Regional Clinical Hospital. As I didn’t have any senior colleagues to guide me I had to rely on myself only. That was not easy but I’m sure that gave me an impetus to develop professionally and go up the career ladder.

One day I realized that the demand for plasticsurgery was higher in Moscow than in Ryazan. So Ibegan to give advice on plastic surgery to would-be-clients in one Moscow beauty salon every Saturday.   Iwas also advertised in a magazine. People saw my advertisement and came to the salon to be consulted. My task was to convince them to come to Ryazan to be operated. It may seem unbelievable, but it worked.At first I thought that the reason for that was arelatively low price. But when pretty wealthy peoplebegan to make appointments with me I understood that the real reason was my well done gob.

Later one of the biggest clinics in Moscow paid its attention to me and offered a job. For the next 4 years I continued to work at Ryazan Regional Clinical Hospital and every weekends I went to Moscow to practice there. In 2005 I made the decision to move toMoscow. I started everything from the very beginning. I opened a consulting room, began to advertise it and found a new clinic to operate in.

The number of my clients grew. I was acceptedby the Russian Society of Plastic Surgeons. As its member I went to international conferences and made reports there. Together with my German colleagues we invented a unique program of women breast modeling. In 2008 I opened my first clinic ”DoctorPlastic”. 5 years ago I started a training course at the Department of Oncology and Thoracic Surgery of Moscow Regional Science and Research Clinical Institute named after M.F. Vladimirskiy.

The advice I can give to current students is to listen to your heart when choosing a specialization!