Plastic Surgery.
Northgate represents plastic surgeons across reconstructive, microvascular, aesthetic, hand, burn and trauma, craniofacial, and pediatric.
Your career in plastic surgery.
Plastic surgery has the widest practice-model spread of any specialty we work in. An academic microvascular surgeon doing free-flap breast reconstruction and head-and-neck reconstruction is in an entirely different practice from a board-certified cosmetic surgeon running a cash-pay aesthetic practice. The decisions a senior hand surgeon makes about call structure are not the decisions a craniofacial surgeon makes about pediatric institutional support. We treat the sub-discipline and the practice model as the unit of the conversation.
The work within plastic surgery.
We are deliberate about the sub-discipline and the practice model behind it. The market for a microvascular reconstructive surgeon at an NCI-designated cancer center is not the market for a senior aesthetic surgeon evaluating a partnership in a high-volume cash-pay practice. The sub-disciplines below guide our approach to plastic surgery representation.
- Reconstructive Surgery
- Post-oncologic, post-traumatic, and complex wound reconstruction. Almost exclusively academic and IDN; institutional commitment to the reconstructive service line decides most conversations.
- Microvascular Surgery
- Free-flap breast reconstruction, head-and-neck reconstruction, and lower extremity salvage. The senior microvascular pool is small; case volume and team continuity drive the offer.
- Aesthetic / Cosmetic
- Independent cash-pay practices, two-partner senior practices, and PE-backed med-spa platforms. Three different conversations; the model defines the economics.
- Hand Surgery
- Microvascular, peripheral nerve, congenital, and trauma. A sub-discipline that sits between plastics and orthopedics; dual-board candidates command premium offers.
- Burn & Trauma
- Burn-center medical directorship, complex burn reconstruction, and burn ICU integration. A small senior pool tied closely to verified burn programs.
- Craniofacial Surgery
- Cleft, craniosynostosis, and complex pediatric craniofacial. Almost exclusively children’s hospital; the universe of fellowship-trained craniofacial surgeons is small.
- Pediatric Plastic Surgery
- Children’s hospital pediatric plastic surgery; often overlapping with hand and craniofacial. Protected academic time is the dominant negotiated term.
The plastic surgeon we represent.
We are most useful to plastic surgeons who are seven to twenty years into practice, board-certified by the ABPS, fellowship-trained where applicable, and at a real inflection point. A reconstructive program-leadership role opening at a place you have followed for a decade. A cosmetic partnership offer that is materializing or expiring. A non-compete running out. A burn center adding a service line. A children’s hospital expanding its craniofacial team.
The conversation tends to work less well for trainees, for general plastic surgeons exploring without a sub-discipline anchor, and for cosmetic engagements where the platform refuses to discuss case volume, marketing economics, or the partnership-track calendar up front.
- Tenure
- Seven to twenty years post-fellowship, with at least three years at the current practice. Earlier-career plastic surgeons better served by their fellowship network.
- Practice-model preference
- Academic reconstructive, hospital-employed mixed, independent aesthetic partnership, PE-backed aesthetic platform, or pediatric/craniofacial children’s hospital. The five are not interchangeable.
- Aesthetic posture
- Whether you currently take insurance, what percentage of your practice is cash-pay, and what the next move would require you to change. We ask early.
- Subspecialty case volume
- Annual case volume in the primary sub-discipline. The numbers are the conversation for reconstructive and microvascular engagements.
- Reason for the conversation
- A specific reason this season, not general curiosity. The reason itself usually shapes the right next role.
The rooms we work in.
The settings we consider for plastic surgery career opportunities.
- Academic Medical Centers
- NCI-Designated Cancer Centers
- Children’s Hospitals
- Verified Burn Centers
- Integrated Delivery Networks
- Independent Aesthetic Practices
- PE-Backed Aesthetic Platforms
- Faculty Practice Plans
