Maryam Zamani, MD - Plastic Surgeon in Los Angeles, California

Eva Sheie (00:03):
The purpose of this podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you're making a life-changing decision, and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be. There's no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close. I'm your host, Eva Sheie, and you're listening to Meet the Doctor. Oh, you took your badge off. That's how I introduced people. This is Maryam Zamani.

Dr. Zamani (00:33):
Yeah.

Eva Sheie (00:34):
So you do skip all the other pieces in the middle?

Dr. Zamani (00:36):
I do. Okay. So it's a pretty fun story behind my last name. And so my full name is Saha-vel-Zamani. It's actually all one name. It has hyphens because my dad, when we moved here, thought it'd be easier for people to understand and be able to read it. It did not help, it just hindered. But what my last name actually translates to is master of time. So how kind of serendipitous that, it's like, oh, we rejuvenate, we turned back time. So it's like master of time.

Eva Sheie (01:06):
That was fortuitous.

Dr. Zamani (01:07):
And I know, but it's actually, it has a bit of religious tiebacks, which is why that's the name of very influential kind prophet in the Islam culture. So that's where it actually came from. But the literal meeting is master of time.

Eva Sheie (01:23):
Anything with multiple meetings, it just that you have layers that you can untangle. It's so fun.

Dr. Zamani (01:29):
Yeah, so it's been kind of a fun thing.

Eva Sheie (01:32):
That is really special. So your dad came here to the United States?

Dr. Zamani (01:36):
Well, we all moved here. So I was born in Iran and I was there until I was 11 with my whole family. And then we moved to Toronto actually. So I'm Canadian and lived there, grew up there, love it. It's such a great culture. So much diversity. And then I've kind of been hopping back and forth between the, legally, legally. I did not climb over the wall. Everything I've done has been very legal and documented by U-S-C-I-S. So I did my undergrad at the University of Toronto and I specialized in human behavioral biology, which is like how fun is that? It was like a mixture of psychology, biology, and philosophy. I thought was the coolest thing I could specialize in. So I did that. And then I did my med school in St. Louis at Washington University, which is where I met my husband was actually from Northern California. So he was there for his grad school. He's an occupational therapist, was at the time. Now he's in business. We met there and after that I was like, I kind of miss home so I went back to Toronto, did my residency there, and then just always chasing growth opportunities and where I can learn more. I went down to Birmingham, Alabama, Roll Tide and I did a fellowship. I know I'm learning everything. I did a ASAP sponsored fellowship with Dr. Grotting, who is just such an incredible, gentle, gentle gentleman. Oh my god, I adore him.

Eva Sheie (03:07):
So here's where we cross over. I went to St. Olaf.

Dr. Zamani (03:10):
Ah, there we go. I love it. Very fantastic. Such a great culture there, right? Definitely love the southern side. And then I decided to go back home again, be close to family. So I did my practice, I started my practice initially for about four and a half years. I was in Toronto, which was good during the covid years, being close to family, but it's just, there was that pull of wanting to come back to the US.

Eva Sheie (03:32):
Well, you knew what the sunshine was like now.

Dr. Zamani (03:34):
I know. They gave me a little taste and I was like, I want more. And my husband's from California, Northern California, so we had a deal. I said, listen, I'll moved to California, but I need the beaches and I need the sunshine. I can't do the gloomy weather. So Southern California it is. So now we're, here we are in LA Beverly Hills setting up.

Eva Sheie (03:53):
Are you working with someone else or are you all by yourself?

Dr. Zamani (03:56):
No, I'm starting by myself. So I'm just starting off my practice. So hopefully my website's going to be launching very soon and just having my little, not complete ribbon cutting, but the virtual ribbon cutting happening soon and just taking off there in Beverly Hills. So very excited.

Eva Sheie (04:14):
It is very common in Beverly Hills to be not just specialized, but really almost super specialized.

Dr. Zamani (04:21):
I know.

Eva Sheie (04:21):
Have you thought about this?

Dr. Zamani (04:22):
I have. I honestly have. And that's like the, it's hard because I already feel like as plastic surgeons, we do so much as plastic surgeons. And it's funny to me that even sometimes my own staff don't know the full gamut of plastic surgery. Like listen, we do burn surgery, we do hand surgery, we do all of this head and neck, lower extremity, breast reconstruction, all of this. And so to already be saying I'm an aesthetic surgeon, that's a specialization within itself. And so when you start to, I find when people want me to further sub specialize in that, it's a little bit hard because I'm already like, listen, I'm already saying no to a lot of things and I love the full gamut of it. And I think that when you are really dedicated to that excellence and to understanding and growing in all the different aspects, you can do it all. I don't think it's necessarily that you have to just be faces or noses or breasts or the lipo person. I think that that's a little bit underestimating our specialty, how rigorous our training has been, and how much everything we do kind of translates and informs the other parts. The way I move my flaps in facial surgery helps me understand how I can do it in breast and body surgery and vice versa. How I manipulate fat tissues in the body is the same way of knowing the principles of anatomy and the different layers in the face. So I think as long as you're dedicated to your craft and you can build into it, you can definitely do all of it. So I am reluctant to say that I'm just going to be doing faces or breast or body. There's definitely areas where you get sought out more. I think that's where sometimes the specialization comes from, but I'm just not ready and I think, I dunno, maybe it's just us women, we can do so many, we can wear so many hats. This is just an extension of that I feel.

Eva Sheie (06:21):
Like I had an opportunity, it was probably two years ago to do this podcast in Beverly Hills for two full days. And so all we did was talk to Beverly Hills surgeons. I asked that question a lot, what do you super specialize in? One person had a really different answer and I've never forgotten it because the answer was, I specialize in women who are between the age of, I forget what it was, 35 and 55, who are, and so the answer blew me away because his answer was not a procedure. His answer was a person.

Dr. Zamani (07:00):
That's interesting.

Eva Sheie (07:02):
And I thought to myself, that's the right answer.

Dr. Zamani (07:06):
Yeah, I think that's true. I definitely think that you cater to a specific, I think that it's what you put out into the world comes back to you. So I think it's that relationship building that we were just talking about, right? It's about who can you make feel comfortable and vice versa. It's that bilateral bi-directional trust that you know you're in your hands, you're going to be able to take excellent care of them and that they're going to put their trust in you so that what you are trying to do can be fulfilled. So I think that that's true. That's a very interesting way of looking at it. And I do like that as an answer. I'll steal it.

Eva Sheie (07:45):
I like it. I like that you like it because we are people not procedures.

Dr. Zamani (07:50):
Absolutely. And I think that's the one thing we have to always remember at the heart of it is that we need to just remember that that's a person. And sometimes I've been criticized for caring too much for our patients, which is like how is that even a criticism? And it sounds like when someone's like, oh, what's your biggest weakness? Like, oh, I work too much, right? No, it's not that. It's literally people are like, you need to stop. You're too invested, you're too invested. I'm like, but how can I not be? The only way I can look at patients is that what if this was my mom or my sister or my relative? And that's how I treat every single patient. And I don't have, I know that sometimes patients are, there's this thought that treat patients differently and I'm like, no, I only have one steam, it's full throttle. I care fully and deeply about my patients. I stay awake at night for my patients. They get my attention all the time. I'm available 24/7. I cannot disengage because the level of trust that patients put in us is something that you just can't underestimate. And it's different. It's different than when you're in the reconstructive world or more medical. I'm making little quotation signs, medical specialties where it's like, oh, there's a disease process. You're making it better or you're salvaging something your life and death. It's not that we have very perfectly healthy patients who are living very fulfilling lives hopefully. And we're trying to elevate that. And I think that the burden is much higher of making sure that you're just doing that. To me, it's empowering patients and that's where it is. And there's nothing that should detract from that ever. So I think you have to take it super seriously.

Eva Sheie (09:43):
I can see that you've thought about this a lot.

Dr. Zamani (09:47):
Can you tell it's been a bit of a struggle?

Eva Sheie (09:49):
Are you a deep thinker? Do you find yourself pondering lots of things?

Dr. Zamani (09:54):
I don't know if I'm a deep thinker. I might be a deep talker.

Eva Sheie (09:57):
Ruminator.

Dr. Zamani (09:57):
Ruminator. I think I just get it's tangential conversations. I just start talking to people and it's weird to conversations carry us and I've just been so fortunate. I think I've just been fortunate to have met some people who've just made you think and instill really great ideas in you. So you're like, yeah, you're an amalgamation of who you're surrounded by. So credit to everyone else. I'm just a little sponge.

Eva Sheie (10:22):
How do you lean into that in your day-to-day life? Do you read a lot of books or listen to podcasts?

Dr. Zamani (10:30):
I think honestly it is a little bit of your social circle. I think whether it's whatever level of life or whatever career path someone's in, I think that the common denominator that I've been very privileged to have in my family and friends is that they're always, every single person, whatever avenue they're down or going down, they're all trying to be the best at what they do. And so I learned so much from everyone else that to be honest, in day-to-day life, I'm actually trying to do more mind numbing stuff so that it's just baking shows. Baking shows are the best, master chef, next level chef.

Eva Sheie (11:12):
I know yesterday my brain was so full from all the great conversations I had that when I got home that my house was upside down and I just looked at the dishes and I was like, that looks actually good right now. And I did the dishes and it was so pleasant just to do a task that I could start and finish.

Dr. Zamani (11:32):
Oh, I love that. I love tasks that you can put a check mark next to. And I dunno what this says about me and my OCD nature, but to-do lists that you can micro to-do.

Eva Sheie (11:44):
Feel so good. Do you bullet journal? I

Dr. Zamani (11:47):
 don't, I'm not a big journaler. Honestly, here's the weird thing is I'm not great at calendars. I'm not graded journals because I find that the second I committed to paper, I almost take that burden away from my brain and I'm more likely to forget it unless there's an alert on my alarm. So it's weird, but I feel like if I have to force myself to remember something, I'm more likely to actually do it.

Eva Sheie (12:09):
Oh wow. Wow. That is the absolute opposite of what the productivity people say to do, which is to get it out of your head and onto paper so that it doesn't roll around in your head and that's what you do.

Dr. Zamani (12:26):
It keeps at the forefront of my mind. It might be why I probably don't sleep well at night lot times, but it also the second, if I've already put it down on paper, maybe part of me thinks I've already done it and I forget about it. So that's when I need my alarms coming after.

Eva Sheie (12:41):
Do you ever go to bed with a problem and wake up with the solution? Your brain worked on it while you were sleeping?

Dr. Zamani (12:52):
I don't, no I wouldn't say that I quite have. No, I haven't had that. Although my husband did tell me one time he heard me reciting surgery as if I was teaching a medical student in my sleep. He was like, you were sleep talking, but not normal sleep talking.

Eva Sheie (13:07):
Do surgeries have scripts?

Dr. Zamani (13:09):
Well, I think it procedures, I mean there's steps, right? That's how we dictate, right, is we dictate the procedural steps. And he was like, you were telling someone, okay, now make the incision here and okay, retract, cut here. And thankfully he's still here with me, which maybe clearly I sounded psychotic in my sleep, but very entertaining at least apparently. Apparently, yeah, it's like other people do more fun kind of sleep talking, but mine is kind of more disturbing.

Eva Sheie (13:42):
In your undergrad when you were doing that, the hybrid degree, did you look at any of those things about human behavior and

Dr. Zamani (13:52):
About sleep talking? Not in particular.

Eva Sheie (13:55):
No, just about, I don't know. I was trying to draw a connection there between your education and your weird story.

Dr. Zamani (14:02):
No, no. There was absolutely nothing. Just that I'm a weird person. It's the only connection there. No, but my undergrad actually does really inform my day to day because of that psychology component. I think you understand people a lot better, and aside from just the individual person, you understand group behavior much better. And I think it also has been informative in terms of just understanding yourself and learning about implicit bias and unconscious prejudice and things like that. And just learning to just check in with yourself every now and then be like, Ooh, I think that I might be having a thought process that isn't totally fair. So I think it's been helpful in that sense.

Eva Sheie (14:49):
You knocked something loose in my old brain. This might be the first time I've ever said this, but I'm quite a bit older than you, I think.

Dr. Zamani (14:57):
I wouldn't know it. You look fantastic.

Eva Sheie (14:59):
Thank you. There was a lot of research done around breast implant, breast augmentation buying behavior, and because I worked with a lot of people who were in that space in my career, and I'm obsessed with conversion, that's the thing I chase all day every day is how do I get more people to convert? There was a really well known sort of factoid for a long time that if you brought women into a consultation as a group and one of them bought, then the rest of the group was more likely to move forward too. And so that was the thing you knocked loose when you said that was that I have to wonder if a group consultation, does anyone still do that, first of all, is that still a thing? And if not, maybe we're missing the boat, we should try to bring it back.

Dr. Zamani (15:53):
Honestly, there's interesting element there that you said that, not that I've tried group consultation, but there's definitely been cases where I've had group of friends come in more in an injectable sense and one person starts wondering about something and it kind of, it informs the other women.

Eva Sheie (16:09):
This is why Botox parties were a thing,

Dr. Zamani (16:11):
This is why Botox parties were a thing.

Eva Sheie (16:14):
Cowboy boot parties.

Dr. Zamani (16:16):
All of it is that it takes away, the way I would say it makes sense is that you're getting that positive feedback and it reassurance that you're looking at. Now, I like it, obviously from a conversion perspective, it makes a lot of sense. The only thing that I always am a little bit cautious about in those settings is whether you're staying true to your patients wants and needs and whether they're being influenced to not doing something that they don't want to do. But for breast augmentation, for example, is whether there's a little bit of mass psychology that's happening that's prompting them to go bigger than they actually want to go to.

Eva Sheie (16:52):
Oh yeah.

Dr. Zamani (16:53):
So I think that that's something that for sure, initial conversations and group settings are fantastic because it can increase conversion, but it also can make it a less intimidating environment once the conversation gets going for people to ask the questions. They want to inquire about the things they want and so help propel things forward. But I think in those cases, it's always important to have that one on one check in with the patient probably at a future date in their preoperative appointment to be like, Hey, let's talk about what it is that you want to have. How am I being true to you? And I think that's really is the core of what my philosophy is in my practice is I'm very much about the individual that's sitting in front of me. So I don't really have a lot of cookie cutter approaches or surgeries that I'm like, okay, this is what you're getting and nothing else, is that to me, what matters is who's the patient?

(17:48):
What is it that they're interested in and what's their life looking like and what's their needs and wants at this point? So a lot of times tummy tuck is the answer. If you ask a group of a hundred plastic surgeons, show them a picture, it's like, yeah, tummy tuck, absolutely. But maybe that patient can't do a tummy tuck, doesn't want to do a tummy tuck. It's not in their need. It's on their recovery course and they understand. The next part is that they have to understand that the results that they're going to get is not a tummy tuck result, but they still want that improvement. I don't think we should be saying blanket no. So I'm a big fan of options and a bespoke treatment plans for patients so that they can get, it's about treating the human that's in front of you and helping them with what they're trying to achieve.

Eva Sheie (18:37):
This is well said.

Dr. Zamani (18:38):
Thank you.

Eva Sheie (18:39):
I feel like we've gotten a really good, I haven't really asked you that many questions. We've got such a good sense of who you are.

Dr. Zamani (18:46):
Oh, thank you.

Eva Sheie (18:46):
And you're really different from what I usually hear in a good way. And I think you're special and I really like it.

Dr. Zamani (18:54):
Thank you. I appreciate that. It's a little bit of a, I think we have to be able to celebrate that in this space. And also, this is why I think diversity and inclusion is important is that we have to hear the different voices and the different approaches and the different perspectives. I think especially as a female surgeon, I think it's important. 98% of our patients are women, and one of the most important things to me is that I am never doing a disservice to the fellow human, fellow woman, and I never want them to come back and feel that they were coerced into something or weren't feeling heard. So I find that it is a little bit of a different relationship I have with my patients too, then it's more conversational or more relationship building than something that they may have been used to in the past with someone else. It's been great. I've enjoyed this. It's my first podcast and it feels like two girlfriends having coffee together.

Eva Sheie (20:03):
Yes. And I always learn so much, and I'll be super honest when I get to talk to someone that is different from the mold, it's always really exciting because it's not the same as everything else. Which of these things is not like the other?

Dr. Zamani (20:21):
Yeah.Which one doesn't fit?

Eva Sheie (20:23):
Still amazing, but totally different.

Dr. Zamani (20:26):
Thank you. Thank you. Well, I love the psychology spin on everything. It makes life interesting.

Eva Sheie (20:31):
I spent a lot of time looking at just tearing things apart to figure out how they work, especially around patient behavior and why they do what they do and how do I put content in front of them that helps them get to know a doctor so that they do the thing we want them to do, but also so that you get the patient in front of you that you want. So who are we talking to? That's the question I'm trying to answer.

Dr. Zamani (20:56):
And I think that's so important because it helps both the patients, right? Patients, so everyone's time is valuable. I think that's one of the first things we need to recognize is as doctors, it's really easy for us to be like, well, that's an appointment, that's a consultation spot. That's valuable time. We're spending money on that. But I think we also have to respect it from the patient perspective. Like they're taking, most often when patients are coming, they're taking time out of their job, they're using a vacation half day or PTO or something. They have to arrange childcare, someone to pick up their kids if they're coming for a late appointment or drop off. There's a significant

Eva Sheie (21:34):
Logistics.

Dr. Zamani (21:34):
logistics that go into it. And when you can prior to setting up an appointment, make sure that it's a better fit. It's just better all around. It respects the patient's time and their energy and it also respects the staff's time and energy and those synergies are the best. I think that's really important.

Eva Sheie (21:52):
I think the worst thing that we could do is bring someone in who meets you and says, that's not what I was expecting. That would be so sad.

Dr. Zamani (22:01):
Yes, I agree. I think it's bilaterally sad. I get sad when patients don't connect with me either, because then I'm like, I hope it still was a positive experience on their day.

Eva Sheie (22:15):
I know nobody thinks about how it makes you feel. That's so sad.

Dr. Zamani (22:18):
I get very sad very often. Be nice to me patients. No, I'm kidding.

Eva Sheie (22:22):
Yeah. Well, you're putting so much into them. You want the right people to connect with you. Absolutely.

Dr. Zamani (22:28):
No, honestly, at the end of the day, if I think there's one thing I want my patients to know is I truly care about them. That's the part is I truly care about them and I truly want them to do well.

Eva Sheie (22:39):
I can see that.

Dr. Zamani (22:40):
That's the part that if I could be like, please just walk away with this. And even if I say no to a patient, which sometimes you have to, I really want them to understand that I'm trying to look out for them and work in their best interests.

Eva Sheie (22:55):
I love that you just said that. So I make a podcast for an older kind of cranky surgeon in Alabama, not the one that you worked for, but a different one. And we just did an episode for him that we came up with called 10 Reasons I would tell you no, and I haven't looked at the downloads, but when we posted the clip on social, there was patient after patient saying, LOL, you told me no to this thing and I really wanted to do it, but that's why I love you. And we were like, wait, what?

Dr. Zamani (23:28):
That's amazing. I think the right when patients, sometimes they may not love you for it immediately, but hopefully if they needed, needed your advice, they respect you for it. Yeah. Listen, it is hard for us to say no, how much work goes into making sure that patient gets to you. So for have them, and then your staff looks to you and you're like, I had to tell them no, and you can see all their faces dropped and you're like, but listen, it's because I'm looking out for them. I'm trying to do what's right here. So I think that's the hard part in this business is sticking to your ethics, sticking to your integrity, and ultimately doing what's good for the patient. Those are the most important things.

Eva Sheie (24:09):
Isn't it also true that you know that when you say no, that some people will still go find someone who will say, yes.

Dr. Zamani (24:15):
I know, and sometimes I'm not going to lie sometimes you find yourself in the predicament where you know that's going to happen, and unfortunately, the person that's going to say yes to them is going to be much less qualified and much less invested in their care. So sometimes, not always, sometimes I'm almost tempted to say yes to that patient because I am like, I want to protect you. Maybe we don't do exactly what that is, but either if you're not going to listen to a no, which is let's downgrade you to something that's going to be safe, because sometimes I'm just worried for patients when they go out. And then the worst thing is a patient goes out and something unfortunate happens and then you're then in a bind because you still want to help the patient. But then it's one of those situations where you have to evaluate, do I come back into this situation? Because there's that element of trust, they didn't trust you in the first place. Are they going to trust you this time around? So I think that's really important. Patients need to know that, that we place a lot of emphasis on their trust, and if we don't think that they're going to trust us and head our advice, that makes us a little bit reluctant too, because we develop our programs, our preoperative and postoperative protocols, very specifically. We strategize to make sure you're safe and you have the best outcome, and if we can't trust that, you're going to trust us on that, things get a little bit questionable.

Eva Sheie (25:42):
I'm glad that they have you looking out for them.

Dr. Zamani (25:44):
Thank you.

Eva Sheie (25:45):
Okay, last question. This is the fun one.

Dr. Zamani (25:47):
Okay, I love it.

Eva Sheie (25:48):
Alright. When you're on an airplane and the flight attendant gets up and says, is there a doctor on the plane? What do you do?

Dr. Zamani (25:58):
This is a hard one, right? Because it's that dreaded level. I mean, to be honest, I do get up, so I have gone up if I'm awake. One time this happened and I was passed out, my husband had to shake me awake, but by the time I was awake, someone else had already gotten, they were already fully under control. I think it's the important thing in those situations is even if you're not feeling like, I'm sure an ER, an ICU doctor is the best in that situation. If they step up, I'm like, all right, a plastic surgeon, I'm here to assist you as you need at this point. But I think we do have that duty to help.

Eva Sheie (26:38):
You're from Beverly Hills, so I have an extra one. This is my only for Beverly Hills question. Who was the last celebrity that you saw on the street? Not in the office. I know you can't tell me if you saw one in the office. Sure.

Dr. Zamani (26:51):
Sam Elliot.

Eva Sheie (26:52):
Sam Elliot. Yeah.

Dr. Zamani (26:54):
Oh, he's amazing.

Eva Sheie (26:55):
He was such a sweetheart. So, okay. I'm a newbie to Beverly Hills, so I still get star struck a lot, and I am really trying to control my reaction because I want to respect there like, they're out in the world trying to do their own thing. So this happened when I was working at a coffee, I was sitting there working on my laptop at the coffee shop, and he came in and I was like, I see you Sam Elliot. I'm very glad that you're here. He looks so cool, but I'm not going to go up and say hi. So I admired him from afar, if you're a celebrity and I see you, I will admire you from afar, but I will respect your privacy.

(27:27):
Someday you're going to be overtaken and you're not. You're going to have to get a selfie. I'm sure it's going to happen.

Dr. Zamani (27:33):
Oh, I am.

Eva Sheie (27:35):
Or someone's going to show up in your office under a pseudonym and you're going to be like, wait, I'm still a doctor.

Dr. Zamani (27:40):
Yeah, definitely those, you know what though? I'm honestly so bad at recognizing people's names, that stuff like that's happened and I've had no idea until they leave. Then my staff is like, did you not know that who that was? And I'm like, no, like XOX, like this person. They're like, oh, that's when it's the bless your heart moment comes, bless your heart.

Eva Sheie (28:06):
They've got your back. Okay. Where can we follow you online?

Dr. Zamani (28:10):
Okay, so I have a new website that's going to be launching zamaniplasticsurgery.com, and you can follow me on my insta. It's @dr.MaryamZamani. So find me there.

Eva Sheie (28:21):
We'll put that in the show notes.

Dr. Zamani (28:23):
Yay. Amazing. Thank you.

Eva Sheie (28:24):
Thank you, Dr. Zamani.

Dr. Zamani (28:24):
Thank you so much for this. This has been so much fun, and thank you.

Eva Sheie (28:27):
My pleasure.

Dr. Zamani (28:27):
For taking a first podcast ever. Shout out to Axis.

Eva Sheie (28:32):
You're so welcome.

Dr. Zamani (28:33):
Thank you.

Eva Sheie (28:33):
If you are considering making an appointment or are on your way to meet this doctor, be sure to let them know you heard them on the Meet the Doctor podcast. Check the show notes for links, including the doctor's website and Instagram to learn more. Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who'd like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book your free recording session at MeettheDoctorpodcast.com. Meet the Doctor is Made with Love in Austin, Texas and is a production of The Axis, theaxis.io.