Dr. Young Cho, M.D., Ph.D,
Houston Plastic Surgeon
Dr. Young Cho is a Board Certified plastic surgeon, as well as the Director of Integrated Aesthetics, located in Spring, TX. Dr. Cho is dedicated to providing patients with the latest in surgical and non-surgical options to help them along their aesthetic journey. He also keenly focuses on helping patients with lifestyle procedures that treat sexual wellness and urinary incontinence.
Dr. Cho’s passion for learning and teaching affords him many opportunities to educate the professional aesthetic and wellness community throughout the United States. He is a national trainer for Allergan (the manufacturers of Botox, Kybella and Juvederm family of injectable fillers), as well as Galderma (manufacturers of Dysport, Sculptra and the Restylane family of injectable fillers). Dr. Cho teaches suture suspension techniques using InstaLift by Thermi, and advance off-label injection techniques for face and body. He is also an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Dr. Cho founded Integrated Aesthetics Academy to help address the growing need for education available to aesthetics and wellness providers. He personally teaches all of the vampire procedures, including the O-Shot, Vampire Facial, Vampire Facelift, Vampire Breast Lift and the Priapus Shot. He offers individual coaching, small group teaching and larger group seminars to help those advance their own journey as aesthetic and lifestyle providers.
Integrated Aesthetics is home to a state-of-the-art operating facility in Houston where Dr. Cho is able to perform many of his procedures and surgeries while providing the highest quality of comprehensive care. Dr. Cho designed the facility to include technologically advanced equipment for the wide variety of procedures offered and a welcoming atmosphere where patients can receive their treatment comfortably and privately.
In addition to the main office, Dr. Cho has hospital privileges at Houston Northwest Medical Center and Methodist Willowbrook Hospital.
His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada; a PhD from Cambridge University in Cambridge, England; an MD from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Ct.; and completed his plastic surgery residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Dr. Cho lives in The Woodlands with his wife, Dr. Melissa Chiang, a dermatologist, and lovely son and daughter.
A Conversation with Houston Plastic Surgeon Dr. Young Cho
Dr. Cho, How Did You Decide to Become a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon?
My becoming a plastic surgeon in Houston was a result of a journey filled with challenging and enjoyable choices. My initial desire was to pursue original scientific research, which led me to England where I was doing graduate work in biological chemistry and finishing up my Ph.D. at Cambridge University. During that time, I applied to medical school as an adjunct to preparing for a career as a research scientist. When I was accepted into Yale University School of Medicine, I went with the idea of pursuing the field of internal medicine with a specialization in infectious diseases. For my clinical rotations, I decided to do the surgical rotations first – to get them out of the way – in order to focus on the areas I was most interested in for the duration of my medical school training. Plastic surgery was my first rotation, and I was simply amazed by what I encountered. I saw cancer reconstruction surgery of the breast tissue, nipple, and then tattooing of the areolas (area surrounding the nipple) performed in three separate patients at various stages of their breast reconstruction. Witnessing these surgeries had a profound impact on me, and I realized that a plastic surgeon could make a real difference in peoples’ lives. That was the turning point.
You were also a research scientist at that time. How did this merge with your growing interest in plastic surgery?
Before, during, and after my plastic surgery schooling and training I maintained a strong interest in conducting scientific research. I did a study on functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI), looking at brain activity. In plastic surgery, we don’t know a lot about the brain and how it functions in the wake of a serious hand or nerve injury. I then wrote and received a grant from the NIH (National Institute of Health) to conduct animal research in order to explore this further. The work went well and a large research program and several NIH grants have been sprung from this initial effort. I was heavily recruited by the Medical College of Wisconsin to pursue a career in both clinical work and scientific research. However, my wife, a dermatologist and dermato-pathologist, is from California and she wanted to live in a warmer climate. Opportunity opened the door for her own medical career in Houston and I was comfortable relocating to accommodate her professional goals and purpose, knowing that my own career would evolve.
That led us to Houston to continue our respective careers in medicine, and there I began doing a lot of reconstructive surgery for patients with skin cancer and serious wounds. Over time, the aesthetic side of my practice has developed, as well. I find happiness by being flexible about the course my life and career takes over time – the paths that emerge as one explores and responds to opportunity. I don’t mind change and I enjoy challenges.
How do you define physical beauty or physical appeal?
Beauty is a relative notion, actually. What I perceive to be beautiful may be quite different from my patient’s viewpoint. My patients come to discuss their concerns and their own ideas about what beauty consists of…and that’s what matters. My goal is to help them attain the appearance that makes them more beautiful in their own eyes. That’s how I look at success in my work. Objectively speaking, proportion is important in terms of what makes a face or body attractive. There is a harmonious balance in the different parts of the body and the features of the face, and the overall effect of balance is pleasing to the eye. Of course, even physical proportion is subjective in nature – and certainly culturally influenced.
