Choosing to undergo cosmetic surgery is a deeply personal decision. Selecting the right cosmetic surgeon requires looking beyond social media, before-and-after photographs, or any single credential. Board certification matters, but it is only one part of a surgeon’s professional history.
Experience is also reflected in the depth of a surgeon’s training, decades of clinical practice, leadership among professional peers, contributions to patient-safety standards, academic work, and the judgment to recognize when surgery should—or should not—be performed.
I am board-certified in both Cosmetic Surgery and Facial Cosmetic Surgery. Those certifications are meaningful parts of my background, but they do not tell the entire story. My approach to surgery has been shaped by more than 30 years of experience, advanced training with internationally recognized surgeons, national leadership in cosmetic-surgery education and patient safety, and the lessons that can only come from caring for patients throughout an entire surgical career.
I am a diplomate of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery and the American Board of Facial Cosmetic Surgery. Each certification required specialized training, professional evaluation, written and oral examinations, and an ongoing commitment to the field.
Dual board certification provides patients with objective information about my professional preparation. It demonstrates that my knowledge and surgical judgment have been evaluated in both cosmetic surgery and facial cosmetic surgery.
I do not believe patients are well served by arguments over which board or credential is “better.” The more useful question is what a surgeon has done with that training and how the surgeon’s complete professional record affects the care provided today.
Board certification is a foundation. Experience is what a surgeon builds upon it.Board certification is a foundation. Experience is what a surgeon builds upon it.
My surgical education began at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where I completed my medical education and plastic-surgery training. Drs. Sam Hamra and Fritz Barton, the two earliest developers of the deep plane facelift taught me their techniques more than thirty years ago. John Tebbetts, one of the most influential figures in modern breast augmentation, was also one of my professors and helped shape my early understanding of breast implant surgery and tissue-based planning.
I continued my education with Ivo Pitanguy in Rio de Janeiro, the father of modern cosmetic surgery, whose approach helped define modern aesthetic surgery. I later completed fellowship training in Nashville with G. Patrick Maxwell, a pioneer in breast reconstruction, implant design, and aesthetic breast surgery.
Additional training in facial plastic and craniofacial surgery broadened my understanding of facial anatomy, proportion, and surgical planning. And after all of that, I completed three more fellowships – One at the University of Paris, one in Santiago, Chile, and one in Nashville.
Those experiences provided a broad technical foundation. More than three decades of operating added something equally important: judgment.
Experience teaches a surgeon not only how to perform an operation, but also how to select the right operation for a particular patient. It teaches how to recognize anatomical limitations, anticipate problems, manage complications, and distinguish what is technically possible from what is reasonably safe.
Sometimes experience leads to a more conservative recommendation. Occasionally, it leads to recommending no surgery at all.
From 2020 through 2024, I served two elected terms as a trustee of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. I have also participated in the examination and continuing education of cosmetic surgeons, including service as an oral board examiner and as a member of the Written Board Examination Committee.
Professional leadership is not honorary. It carries responsibility for maintaining standards, evaluating other surgeons, addressing emerging safety concerns, and helping the specialty improve.
During my service with the ABCS, I co-founded the Cosmetic Surgery Patient Safety Initiative, a national campaign designed to translate safety evidence into practical guidance for surgeons and patients. I also co-founded the ABCS BBL Safety Committee and helped create the BBL Safety Certification Examination.
My work in this area has included co-authoring national Brazilian butt lift safety standards, teaching ultrasound-guided fat grafting, and helping develop educational and certification programs intended to reduce preventable complications.
I currently serve as a trustee of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, where I remain involved in professional education, scientific programming, and efforts to advance the safe practice of cosmetic surgery.
Patient safety is not a slogan or a single checklist. It is an ongoing discipline that involves patient selection, surgical planning, anesthesia, operative time, infection prevention, blood-clot prevention, postoperative monitoring, communication, and a willingness to continually evaluate new evidence.
I serve on the editorial board of the American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery as both its Patient Safety Section Editor and Breast Surgery Section Editor. In those roles, I evaluate scientific manuscripts addressing surgical techniques, outcomes, complications, and patient-safety practices.
I also serve as a peer reviewer for Aesthetic Surgery Journal, one of the leading scholarly journals in aesthetic surgery.
Reviewing the work of other surgeons requires continual engagement with scientific literature. It also means evaluating whether new techniques represent meaningful advances, whether the conclusions are supported by the evidence, and how emerging information should, or should not, change patient care.
That work comes back into the consultation room and operating room. New technology can be valuable, but novelty alone is not a reason to use it. Experience provides the perspective to balance innovation with evidence, anatomy, safety, and long-term results.
One of the ways experience has shaped my practice is by making it narrower, not broader.
At Ingram Cosmetic Surgery, we focus exclusively on surgical procedures of the breast, body, and face. We do not offer injectables, facials, or nonsurgical aesthetic treatments. I limit my surgical practice to operations that I have studied and performed for decades, particularly breast augmentation, breast lift, abdominoplasty, mommy makeover, liposuction, and selected facial procedures.
Excellent surgery is not about offering the greatest number of treatments. It is about choosing the right procedure for the right patient and performing it with care.
I personally conduct consultations, develop each surgical plan, and see patients throughout their postoperative care. I remain directly available during recovery because responsibility for a patient does not end when the operation is completed.
A small, focused practice allows our team to provide the degree of attention, continuity, and individualized care that I believe cosmetic surgery requires.
In 2025 and again in 2026, I was recognized as one of the Top 10 Plastic Surgeons in Tennessee by the National Academy of Plastic Surgeons. I was also recognized among the 10 Best Plastic Surgeons in Tennessee by the American Institute of Plastic Surgeons in 2025 and 2026.
These honors are appreciated, but no award should replace a patient’s careful evaluation of a surgeon. I view them as recognition of a much broader professional record: decades of surgical experience, national patient-safety leadership, academic involvement, focused practice, and an enduring responsibility to the patients who place their trust in me.isions.
When evaluating a surgeon, patients should consider the complete professional picture. Useful questions include:
An experienced surgeon should welcome these questions and answer them directly. Trust is built through candor, thoughtful evaluation, realistic expectations, and clear communication, not credentials alone.
Dual board certification is an important part of my professional background, but it is not the entirety of my experience. My approach to cosmetic surgery reflects more than 30 years of clinical practice, training with leaders in aesthetic surgery, two terms as an ABCS trustee, national patient-safety work, editorial responsibility, peer review, and decades of caring for patients before, during, and after surgery.
At Ingram Cosmetic Surgery in Nashville, TN, every patient receives an individualized evaluation and a surgical plan developed around anatomy, health, goals, and safety. Sometimes that means recommending a particular operation. Sometimes it means modifying the plan, staging procedures, or advising against surgery.
That judgment is one of the most important things experience provides.
Request a private consultation with Dr. Ingram to discuss your goals, ask questions, and determine which approach may be most appropriate for you.
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