Dr. David P. Rapaport is skilled, talented, meticulous with one of the busiest and most in-demand practices in New York City. He receives patients from across the country and around the globe seeking the care that only someone with his medical expertise and artistic vision can provide.

He specializes in a full range of procedures at his practice. Moreover, his patients and peers alike recognize him as a superior surgeon for his ability to achieve beautiful, natural-looking results time and time again. Whether you are seeking more toned thighs, a plumper pout, fuller, more shapely breasts, or a trimmer waist, he can make your dream a reality.

Born and raised in Boston, Dr. Rapaport studied at Boston University before transferring to Israel's Tel Aviv University, where he earned his medical degree in 1985. After graduating, he trained in surgery at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital, a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, and then completed training at the NYU Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, widely regarded as the nation's top plastic and cosmetic surgery residency program. He is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He is a member of both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons as well as the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

From 1993 to 1997, he was a key faculty member at the University of South Florida, where he developed a successful and respected practice as a cosmetic plastic surgeon. But in 1997, he and his wife decided to return to the city to work, live, and raise their four children in the unique social and cultural environment that only New York City can offer. Soon after, he established his private practice and opened his Park Avenue office.

Skilled in a wide array of areas of medicine, he has developed a national reputation in the treatment of melanoma and has authored numerous articles and chapters in these fields. He has pioneered work in endoscopic techniques for treating melanoma and an endoscopic technique for the harvesting of saphenous veins in coronary artery bypass surgery, thereby reducing risk and speeding recovery.

A gifted author and speaker, he has been published in many respectable medical journals and books and presents regularly at medical conventions around the country.

In all aspects of his work, Dr. Rapaport emphasizes sensitivity to each patient's individual concerns. He makes every effort to communicate with and treat every patient with the greatest attention to detail and meticulous care.

DR. DAVID P. RAPAPORT
AS FEATURED IN PLASTIC SURGERY PRODUCTS MAGAZINE:

David P. Rapaport, MD, FACS, is driven in part by his history. His father, a holocaust survivor, immigrated to the United States in 1950. Although he came to this country speaking no English, he supported himself through dental school as a bank janitor at night and eventually built a dental practice in Boston, serving working class patients. “He was my hero," Rapaport says.

His father influenced Rapaport to push himself and achieve his dreams, including becoming a surgeon and spending time in Israel. “I was always drawn to medicine and I had always wanted to be a surgeon,” he recalls. In 1976, he gave up the chance to study in Israel his junior year of high school to graduate a year early. He was immediately accepted into the six-year medical program at Boston University (BU) but postponed matriculation a year to live and study in Israel.

STUDY ABROAD
Rapaport loved Israel, and he wanted to return. During his first year at BU, he applied to the six-year medical program at Tel Aviv University. He was accepted and started in 1978.

According to Rapaport, Israeli medical education differed from that in the U.S. “Especially back then, there were not as many required classes. In Israel, I spent five years fulfilling requirements and only two months on electives. The preclinical studies were spread out, and the pace of learning was less frenetic,” he says. “My education in Israel emphasized knowing a lot of information, rather than knowing where to find the information. Furthermore, students were expected to be studying, rather than doing the residents' scut work. It was more important to demonstrate knowledge to the residents than to complete their work,” Rapaport says.

He also benefited from studying under more experienced physicians. “Because Israeli medical care is socialized, senior doctors can make as much money teaching students as treating patients. This allows them to spend more time with students,” Rapaport says.

The decision, however, to study in a foreign school was not without its disadvantages. Foreign graduates were seen as a negative factor in American residency program ratings, and it is sometimes difficult for foreign educated students to be accepted. “I received some flak for choosing to attend medical school in a foreign country, but the education prepared me well,” Rapaport says. He scored in the 100th percentile on the examination taken by foreign medical students, and was accepted into the general surgery residency at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.

Rapaport achieved board certification with the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Choosing Plastic Surgery
“For me, medicine was all about surgery. Surgery enabled me to fix things,” Rapaport says. He planned to become a general surgeon, but hesitated when he noticed that many in this field seemed unhappy. “The plastic surgeons, on the other hand, appeared much happier in their work," Rapaport says.

In addition, plastic surgeons emphasized technique, whereas many general surgeons emphasized intellect. “Academians believed in research and felt surgical technique was easy to master,” he says. Even though Rapaport did not agree, he still believed plastic surgery would be easier. “That was a mistake,” he says. “Plastic surgery is very broad, and with so many areas to specialize in, it is difficult to know and master it all. However, it is a surgery that emphasizes technique and requires a relationship with the patient.”

Rapaport enjoys building these relationships. “If I had not chosen surgery, I would have become a psychiatrist,” Rapaport says, joking that he married one instead. He is not intimidated by the pressure some feel when treating healthy patients. “A normal person with the right motivation and expectations will generally be happy after undergoing cosmetic surgery,” he says.

Revolutionary Research
Rapaport did not immediately go into private practice. “My goals have changed over the years, and I rarely do things the easy way,” he says. He completed his training at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, New York University (NYU) Medical Center, and continued at NYU for a one-year micro-surgery fellowship.

“At the end of that year, my wife and I were eager to leave New York, but I felt that starting a private practice would be too easy,” Rapaport says. He was recruited to the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa by an opportunity that seemed too exciting to turn down. He found himself as the new assistant professor in the Division of Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery, and his office was in the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. “I was interested in breast reconstruction, but I was also part of the cutaneous oncology program, which was being revolutionized with a breakthrough in understanding how tumors spread," Rapaport says.

When a patient is diagnosed with malignant melanoma, the course of treatment will be decided by the thickness of the tumor and whether it has spread to the regional lymph nodes or beyond, according to Rapaport. Previously, the only way to determine whether the melanoma had spread to the lymph nodes was to remove all of the lymph nodes in that region for analysis, resulting in major and unnecessary surgery and creating greater opportunity for misdiagnosis. The concept of sentinel node surgery allows the physician to inject dye and/or radioactivity into the area surrounding the melanoma site and track its progress. By removing only those lymph nodes into which the visible or radioactive material has drained, the patient undergoes less surgical trauma, and the diagnosis is more precise.

The technique has become a standard of care at many centers that treat melanoma patients, and has recently been used on patients with breast cancer to limit and improve the accuracy of their lymph node surgery. Senitnel node evaluation techniques require a dedicated team of specialists. As a member of the team, the plastic surgeon can both remove the node and reconstruct the melanoma site in a positive way, according to Rapaport.

The chance to participate in such groundbreaking work was exciting. Rapaport was responsible for the first series of sentinel nodes taken from the parotid gland, worked with the Neoprobe Corporation, Dublin, Ohio, to develop improved (minimized) gamma detectors for sentinel node biopsy, and became a co-director of training sessions on sentinel lymphandectomy techniques, a course which he initiated with Douglas Reingten, MD, at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. As important as this work was, it was not all he did.

Making History
During his four years in Florida, he also helped craft legislation requiring broader insurance coverage for reconstructive breast surgery, directed the cosmetic surgery education of residents, and started a private practice. “The work was rewarding, but I did not like the lack of control in academic life. Someone said, ‘Changing things in an institution is like turning the Queen Mary.’ They were right. So I disembarked,” Rapaport laughs.

Setting up Shop
Although he entertained the idea of returning to Israel, his wife wanted to stay in the United States, so the family moved back to New York, where Rapaport focused on private practice. Taking into consideration the New York marketplace, he decided to concentrate on cosmetic surgery rather than reconstructive. “Cosmetic surgeons appeal directly to the patient, whereas reconstructive must rely on surgical oncologists and other doctors to refer patients,” Rapaport says. “I wanted to be independent rather than beholden to an institution or referring physicians. I was not prepared to wait for an invitation in order to live where I chose to live.”

Rapaport set up shop in a small office just under 1,000 square feet. It is the same office he operates in now. “I learned an important lesson early on—keep overhead down,” Rapaport says. “It’s a small office, but it has everything I need: one waiting room, one large consulting room, one operating room, one recovery room, and one bathroom. I focus on one patient at a time, so I have not needed to expand. I like to call it The Little Office That Could.”

Although small, the office has a lot of character, sporting faux art, wood accents, and murals. “It was important that the office feel established, particularly because I look younger than I actually am,” Rapaport says, who, at 43, can still pass for a man in his mid-30’s.

With the location selected, Rapaport needed to determine pricing. “It had been suggested to me that I set my prices high to indicate I was one of the best, but I decided not to take that approach,” Rapaport says. “I had a family of four children to support, and I felt better doing more cases for less money rather than fewer cases for more money. Each patient can refer others, and when you are busy, more people know you.” Marketing helped, too. “It used to be that you were legitimate if people just came to you; advertising was a sin,” Rapaport says, who chose to place advertisements all the same.

Having built a good mix of patients, Rapaport is weathering the economic downturn better than some colleagues. “The wealthy are not recession-proof. If a middle-class patient decides to undergo plastic surgery, it becomes a priority, and they find the resources,” Rapaport says. “However, if patients are unsure whether they want the surgery, I do not push them. If I have to sell them on it, they probably should not have it.

“I am particularly proud to be caring for a very diverse patient base, from the middle class to the very affluent,” Rapaport continues. “This, I feel, is in the tradition of my late father, who never treated any patient with arrogance.”

Today, approximately 95 percent of his practice is cosmetic surgery, with many patients interested in liposuction and breast surgery. Rapaport tailors each surgery, using technology when the patient and the occasion call for it. “Technology does not make the technique, but rather adds to it. I provide patients with the information, and they choose what is best for them,” Rapaport says.

Interdisciplinary Interests
Rapaport has devoted much of his research to expanding those technological options, improving both surgical techniques and patient recovery. In addition to his work with sentinel nodes, Rapaport has completed research in minimal incision subcutaneous surgery. He initiated the development of instruction in technique for endoscopically harvesting the saphenous vein for coronary artery bypass graft surgery when he approached Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon, Somerville, New Jersey, about this possible application of their endoscopic plastic surgery technique.

Using plastic surgery instruments, he developed a new, minimal incision technique for groin dissection in malignant melanoma and lowered the procedure’s complication rate. “The use of the specialized techniques and instruments allowed me to remove as much or more tissue with a smaller scar with a significantly lower complication rate because skin flaps suffered “less injury,” Rapaport says.

Rapaport thinks the cross-pollenization and techniques can be applied in other areas for improved patient care. “Plastic surgeons can operate all over the body, and our techniques can be used in surgeries outside of the discipline. We can teach others how to apply some techniques better,” Rapaport says. He knows, because he did.

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