Tulsa, OK | Meet Dr. Cuzalina | Tulsa Surgical Arts

Angelo Cuzalina: People ask me how I got into cosmetic surgery and it certainly wasn't something that in high school that you think, "Well, I want to do cosmetic surgery," but I did like the idea of surgery because you could work with your hands. I'd always loved working with my hands and doing woodworking, different things. I went to Oklahoma State University and I watched an oral and maxillofacial surgeon work, and it was just something really, really neat. I thought, "It's the coolest thing on earth, I have to do that. How do you do it?" I found out that you typically have to go to dental school, and then I found out later you have to go to medical school too if you really want to get into some of the better programs. I ended up going to dental school at Baylor and then I went to medical school at the University of Alabama.

Angelo Cuzalina: As far as how I deal with patients and the type of patients that I have, it's such a varied group that you really have to talk to different patients differently, because I may have a six-year-old who has ears that stick out and now all the kids at school are teasing them and it's a wonderful thing to be able to help that child feel better about themselves at such a young age. That's different talking to a six-year-old and a 20-something-year-old that comes in for a standard breast augmentation or maybe even just Botox and fillers. You also have the patients that are in their sixties or even seventies that are getting facelift surgery or other procedures that are much more involved.

Angelo Cuzalina: I try to spend as much time as necessary to really get to know my patients. I enjoy it. I love meeting them and finding out things personally about them. I think it helps the recovery, because then at least we have a mutual respect and admiration for each other at some level. I'm the type of surgeon that I want my patients to know that if they did have an issue that I'm more than happy to see them anytime and then I'm willing to take care of whatever the issue is. I want them to be happy.

Angelo Cuzalina: It's difficult for doctors and surgeons to have a normal family life. My wife and my two kids, I've got a four-year-old girl and a nine-year-old little boy, that are just wonderful. I can't be more blessed than I am to have this great family life that meshes well with a very busy professional life.

Angelo Cuzalina: Starting out as a maxillofacial surgeon and doing facial cosmetic surgery, some people ask me, "Well, how did you end up doing so much body surgery and becoming a total cosmetic surgeon?" Having done the facial cosmetic surgery, I had an interest in total body cosmetic surgery. I knew that I couldn't just dabble in it. I needed to get additional training, so I went on and did a complete surgical fellowship that covered mainly body cosmetic surgery. It turned out I loved the body cosmetic surgery just as much as I loved the facial surgery and that led me to do it all.

Angelo Cuzalina: When I think about my career, there's a couple of things that I'm most proud of. The fact that I was the president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery in 2011, that's an extreme honor because I'm selected by my peers. I've recently also had the honor to be selected to be the president of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. The board is something that I take very serious because it has to do with patient safety and credentialing.

Angelo Cuzalina: It would be hard pressed not to be proud of the facility that we've built. We feel like it's one of the best facilities in the entire country, if not the world, it's AAAHC accredited. I had the vision of what I wanted to do during residency and did a lot of moonlighting and extra work to hopefully be able to do the vision at some point in my career. It's finally come to fruition. It's built-in such a way to make it very comfortable for not only myself, our staff, but definitely our patients. We have two overnight guest suites that we've got somewhat of an Italian theme.

Angelo Cuzalina: I love working here. It's a comfortable place to be and I think our patients really notice that, because not only is it an accredited facility where we try to do just everything as perfectly as possible to make it as safe for the patient, we also wanted it to be pleasing to the patient, not only in the way the patients are treated by our staff, but the general feeling they get when they walk in the place. I think when you're here, you realize how professional it is, but also how much care and love went into it. It has to be, to really do cosmetic surgery well you have to have a place that you're proud of, that you know is going to be as sterile as possible, but yet have the feel of artistry.

Angelo Cuzalina: We put on courses for surgeons all over the world, and we do this several times a year and have for over a decade. To have the opportunity to train them, but also to learn from them too, is wonderful. I would have never dreamed that I would have been so fortunate and blessed. It keeps me always on the cutting edge, it always makes me want to improve. By having surgeons around you and other doctors, it gives you this peer review assessment of yourself on a constant basis and I'm proud to be in that situation.