All plastic surgeons listed (for Colombia) are members of the Colombian Society of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Dr. Luis Botero during a tour of the new El Tesero ambulatory surgery clinic

Dr. Luis Fernando Botero Gutierrez

Carrera 25A #1 -31

Edificio Parque emp. El Tesoro

Office # 907

Medellin, Colombia

Tele: 448 – 6030

Email: luchobot@gmail.com

Website: currently under revision

It is fitting that one of Medellin’s most prominent plastic surgeons shares the same last name as one of Colombia’s most (but not related) famous artists – since plastic surgery requires considerable artistic vision from its practitioners.  While Fernando Botero’s classic works depict a more fleshy, voluptuous and sumptuous view of the world, Dr. Luis Botero spends much of his time doing the opposite: slimming and smoothing his clients with the judicious application of the latest liposuction techniques.

Quirofanos El Tesoro

His office is located next to the El Tesoro mall, in one of the most affluent parts of the city, but that will soon change with the August opening of a large ambulatory surgery clinic within the upscale shopping center.  Dr. Botero is a large part of the vision behind the 15-million dollar surgery center, which will also house the  150 physician offices from multiple specialties (including 21 plastic surgeons).

Trilingual surgeon

Dr. Botero speaks English and French fluently in addition to his native Spanish.  Much of this is due to his training.  After attending medical school at the Universidad de Antioquia here in Medellin and practicing as a general medicine physician for four years – he headed to Europe for specialty training in plastic surgery.

He attended the Free University of Brussels (Universite Libre de Bruxelles) in Belgium for his plastic surgery residency before moving to the University Henri Poincare (now University of Lorraine) in Nancy, France  for four years to complete  fellowships in maxiofacial surgery, plastic surgery of the face and separate training in hand and microsurgery and upper limb surgery.  He spent an additional year working as a plastic surgeon in France. He also spent time in Singapore (National University Hospital)  with Dr. Robert Pho and Taipei, Taiwan (Chang Gung Memorial Hospital) as a visiting fellow.

He returned to Colombia 12 years ago, and has been working as a plastic surgeon in Medellin ever since.

He is currently the president of the Antioquia chapter of the Colombian Society of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive surgery as well as holding memberships in Belgian Society of Plastic Surgery and the Group for the Advancement of Microsurgery (GAM).  He is also a member of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) and the Latin American Federation of Plastic Surgery (FILACP).

He is the official physician for the French Embassy office in Medellin.

Current practice in Medellin

Despite his extensive training, his current practice is almost exclusively aesthetic surgery (rather than reconstructive, micro or hand surgery).  He performs a combination of facial and body procedures including facial endoscopy, and reports that like almost all plastic surgeons, around fifty percent of his practice is liposuction.

While the majority of his practice are women, he estimates that around 15% are male clients.  The most popular procedure for his male patients are blepharoplasty (eye-lid lift), mandibular liposuction (chin) and corporal liposuction (body).

He is patient, pleasant and very likeable.  We talk about current trends in plastic surgery, cultural attitudes regarding plastic surgery and the anticipated opening of the new clinic.  During our walk through the mall after a tour of the new clinic – we are greeted by two of his former patients who are pleased to see him.  One young lady ruefully shrugs with a shy smile  while showing off her advanced pregnancy, as if acknowledging that she will be back soon.

Hopefully, we will follow Dr. Botero to the operating soon.