Meet Dr. Hector Salazar-Reyes

At ten or eleven years old, Dr. Hector Salazar watched his grandmother step off a plane looking dramatically younger than she had a month earlier. She had quietly traveled out of town for cosmetic surgery, healed through the swelling and bruising in private, and come home presentable. That moment redirected a kid who, a few years earlier, had been caping the family dog like a bullfighter — toward seventeen years of training that would make him a board-certified plastic surgeon.Monique talks with Dr. Salazar about the long road from medical school to general surgery training in Chicago to plastic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, inside what he describes as the largest medical center in the world. He explains why training as a general surgeon first — including the fifty to sixty kidney transplants he participated in — makes him a more well-rounded plastic surgeon, and where that background stops being useful in aesthetic work. The conversation covers oral boards (defending a year's worth of his own cases in front of a room of senior plastic surgeons), the legal-household upbringing that shaped his approach to safety and compliance, and why he returned to San Diego in 2015.He also shares what really happens in a consultation at LJCSC, and why he tells anyone who arrives with someone else's surgical plan that the only goal that matters is theirs.LinksMeet San Diego plastic surgeon Dr. Hector Salazar-ReyesRead real patient reviews from La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery CentreQuestions answered by this episodeWho is Dr. Hector Salazar-Reyes?Where did Dr. Hector Salazar-Reyes train as a plastic surgeon?How many years of training does it take to become a board-certified plastic surgeon?What is the difference between an integrated and a traditional plastic surgery residency?Why does board certification matter when choosing a plastic surgeon?How does a general surgery background prepare someone for plastic surgery?What happens at the plastic surgery oral board exam?What should I expect at a plastic surgery consultation in San Diego?Is it normal to get a second opinion before plastic surgery?How do I find a safe, board-certified plastic surgeon in San Diego?About this podcastLearn from the talented plastic surgeons inside La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre, the 12x winner of the San Diego's Best Union-Tribune Readers Poll, global winner of the 2020 MyFaceMyBody Best Cosmetic/Plastic Surgery Practice, and the 2025 winner of Best Cosmetic Surgery Group in San Diego Magazine's Best of San Diego Awards.Join hostess Monique Ramsey as she takes you inside LJCSC, where dreams become real. Featuring the unique expertise of San Diego's most loved plastic surgeons, this podcast covers the latest trends in aesthetic surgery, including breast augmentation, breast implant removal, tummy tuck, mommy makeover, labiaplasty, facelifts and rhinoplasty.La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre is located just off the I-5 San Diego Freeway at 9850 Genesee Ave, Suite 130 in the Ximed building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus.To learn more, go to LJCSC.com or follow the team on Instagram @LJCSCWatch the LJCSC Dream Team on YouTube @LaJollaCosmeticSurgeryCentreThe La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Podcast is a production of The Axis: theaxis.ioTheme music: Busy People, SOOP