About Dr. Doft

PHILOSOPHY

“You, Only Better”

I believe individuality should be celebrated. As a plastic surgeon, my goal is not to change your unique expressions and features but to refine your facial or body image, enhancing and restoring your natural beauty. We all realize that the aging process cannot be eliminated – but it can be slowed, altered, refined, and balanced to preserve elegance, regardless of age. Most patients are happy to be their age, but they want to look the best that they can. To help obtain this balance, I have created a multi-disciplinary team of top dietitians, physical trainers and aestheticians to enhance your surgical results. I have realized that plastic surgery is as much about treating the patient as it is about performing the procedure. The goal is a healthier, happier you.

Training in the modern era of plastic surgery has enabled me to be facile with the latest data-proven technologies and has led me to incorporate this technology into a traditional surgical practice. In recent years, I have watched the pendulum change from an over-plumped, over-stretched standard into a more balanced, natural enhancement. Most patients wish to look like a better version of themselves, not an idealized plastic surgery model. To achieve this, I use a multi-modality approach combining small “tweaks” to deliver a fresher appearance. Whether using micro-droplets of fillers, a combination of lasers and surgery or using newer techniques in the operating room, the new paradigm of beauty is no longer just desirable but is now achievable.

Doft Plastic Surgery creates an environment that fosters quality, individuality, honesty, and privacy. My office is warm and inviting and is decorated like a stylish private home to make your visit more comfortable. Here, I hope you will appreciate both my conservative approach to surgery and my gentle, discreet bedside manner. I am a mother of two young sons and have the same beauty concerns of any busy person; allowing me to appreciate what my patients ask for. My hope is to safely reach your personal goals while preserving your identity and individuality with natural-looking improvements.

“I am a mother of two young sons, I work long hours and have the same beauty concerns of any busy person; therefore I appreciate what my patients ask for.”

PROFILE

Double board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, Melissa Doft, MD specializes in a broad range of cosmetic and reconstructive treatments. She seamlessly combines traditional surgical methods with the most state-of-the-art, data-proven new technology. Known for her warm demeanor, genuine kindness, and meticulous attention to detail, Dr. Doft understands the beauty concerns we face and offers conservative, natural-looking solutions.

Voted as a Rising Star in the New York Times and one of New York’s Best Doctors in New York Magazine, Dr. Doft graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College with Rufus Choate Honors, where she studied Biochemistry and Art History. Valedictorian of her class at New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Doft graduated with honors for her research in Cell Biology, was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society for overall academic and clinical excellence in medicine, and received the Valentine Mott Medal for academic achievement in Anatomy, Cell Biology, Histology, and Embryology, the Alumnae Golden Key Pin award for academic achievement and commitment to extracurricular activities, and the Kosciuszko Foundation Dr. Marie Zakrzewska Medical Scholarship for academic excellence. She completed her internship at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the department of surgery.

At the Columbia University campus of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, she trained in general surgery. There she served as chief resident and was recognized by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Circle of Excellence for humanitarianism and excellence in teaching. She completed her plastic surgery training at the combined programs of Cornell and Columbia Universities at New York-Presbyterian Hospital where she received the Goulian Award for Academic Excellence in Plastic Surgery. Dr. Doft has also trained at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital.

In her role as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Weill Cornell Medical College, Dr. Doft teaches plastic surgery to the New York-Presbyterian residents. She is also on staff at Lenox Hill Hospital, Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, and Mount Sinai where she is actively involved in teaching the aesthetic surgery fellows. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and chapters in the field of plastic surgery, including recent publications in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery. She has won many awards for her research contributions and has been invited to lecture both nationally and internationally. She was invited to be a visiting professor in China to speak about her experience with ear molding and otoplasty. Dr. Doft serves on the advisory boards for Becon Medical and It Cosmetics by L’Oréal. She is frequently quoted in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Allure, Town and Country, In Style, The New York Post, The New York Times, Marie Claire, among other publications. Dr. Doft is affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Lenox Hill and Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, and Greenwich Hospital.

BIOGRAPHY DOWNLOAD BIO

EDUCATION
New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York
• Plastic Surgery Fellowship
• The Goulian Award for Excellence in Plastic Surgery
• General Surgery Residency Program
• The Arnold P. Gold Foundation Circle of Excellence Award for Humanitarianism and Excellence in Teaching

University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

  • Internship in the Independent Plastic Surgery Program

New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY

  • Doctorate of Medicine with Honors in Cell Biology
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Award for Highest Cumulative Average over Four Years

Hopital Necker Enfants-Malades and Hôpital George Bizet, Paris, FR

  • Intensive surgical elective with craniofacial surgeon Françoise Firmin

Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire

  • Bachelor of Arts (Magna Cum Laude) in Biochemistry, minor in Art History; Rufus Choate Honors (1998, 1999, 2000)

Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Massachusetts

  • Magna Cum Laude Society

SELECTED ACADEMIC HONORS AND AWARDS

  • Super Doctors Rising Stars, New York Times, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
  • The Leading Physicians of the World, 2015
  • Vitals Patients’ Choice Award, 2012, 2013, 2014
  • Patients’ Choice Compassionate Doctor Award, 2012
  • Goulian Award for Academic Excellence in Plastic Surgery, 2011
  • First Prize for Poster Presentation at the New York Regional Society of Plastic Surgery Resident’s Night, 2010
  • The Arnold P. Gold Foundation Circle of Excellence Award for Humanitarianism and Excellence in Teaching 2008, 2009
  • Best Doctors, New York Magazine, 2018, 2019
  • Exceptional Women in Medicine, Castle Connolly, 2017, 2018, 2019
  • Top Doctor New York Metro Area, Castle Connolly, 2017, 2018, 2019
  • Alpha Omega Alpha award for highest cumulative average over four years of medical school
  • Alpha Omega Alpha (Medical Honor Society)
  • Alumnae Golden Key Pin Award for academic achievement and commitment to extracurricular activities
  • The Kosciuszko Foundation Dr.Marie Zakrzewska Medical Scholarship for academic excellence
  • Valentine Mott Medal for academic achievement in Anatomy, Cell Biology, Histology, and Embryology
  • Pinkerton Foundation Academic Travel Grant
  • NIH Short-Term Training Students in Health Professional Schools Grant
  • Magna Cum Laude Society at Dartmouth College (1999, 2000)
  • Rufus Choate Honors (1998, 1999, 2000)
  • The Byrd Scholarship for academic excellence in the State of Massachusetts (1997-2000)
  • College Honor Roll
  • Magna Cum Laude Society at Deerfield Academy (1995,1996)

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT

  • Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical School

BOARD CERTIFICATION

  • Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery
  • Board Certified by the American Board of Surgery

HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS

  • New York Presbyterian Hospital
  • Lenox Hill
  • Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital
  • New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai
  • New York Hospital Downtown
  • Greenwich Hospital

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • David Hidalgo, MD and Melissa Doft, MD. Post-Reduction Breast Augmentation. Plastic Reconstructive Surgery Global Open. 10/1/2015.
  • David Hidalgo, MD and Melissa Doft, MD. The Caudal Septum Columellar Strut Graft. Plastic Reconstructive Surgery Journal. 2015:136(3):484-7.
  • Melissa Doft, MD, Alison B. Goodkind, BA, Shawn Diamond, MD, Jennifer I. DiPace, MD, Ashutosh Kacker, MD, and Anthony N. LaBruna, MD. The Newborn Butterfly Project: A Shortened Treatment Protocol For Ear Molding. Plastic Reconstructive Surgery Journal. March 2015: 135(3); 577e-583e.
  • Katie Weichman, MD, Melissa Doft, MD, Alan Matarasso, MD. The Impact of Mastopexy on Brassiere Cup Size. Plastic Reconstructive Surgery Journal. July 2014: 134(1);34e-40e.
  • Naikhoba C. O. Munabi, BA, Jeffrey A. Ascherman, MD and Melissa A. Doft, MD. “Botulinum Toxin for the Treatment of Primary Focal Hyperhidrosis: Pretreatment Considerations, Technique, and Expected Outcomes.” Chapter 1, In Hyperhidrosis: Causes, Treatment Options and Outcomes. Huddle, JR. Nova Biomedical, New York, 2014.
  • Naikhoba C. O. Munabi, BA and Melissa A. Doft, MD. Breast Augmentation: Novel Techniques. New Implants, And An Update On Complications. Prime. Sept/Oct 2013:1(5):54-63.
  • Melissa Doft, MD, Krista Hardy, BA, Jeffrey Ascherman, MD. The Fish Mastopexy. Plastic Reconstructive Surgery Journal. May 2012: 129(5);865e-6e.
  • Melissa A. Doft, MD, Krista L. Hardy, Jeffrey A. Ascherman, MD. Treatment of Hyperhidrosis with Botulinum Toxin. Aesthetic Surgery Journal. 2012: 32(2); 238-244
  • Melissa A. Doft, MD, Austin L. Chiang, BS, Graham Schwarz, MD, Krista L. Hardy, Jeffrey A. Ascherman, MD, June K. Wu, MD, Christine H. Rohde, MD. Examining Reduction Mammaplasty in Hispanic and African American Populations: A Changing Landscape in American Plastic Surgery. Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery. 2011:64(12);341-3.
  • Melissa A. Doft, MD, Jennifer L. Kasten, MD, Jeffrey A. Ascherman, MD. Treatment of Axillary Hyperhidrosis with Botulinum Toxin: A Single Surgeon’s Experience with 53 Consecutive Patients. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. 2011: 35(6):1079-1086.
  • Doft M and LaBruna A. “Otoplasty,” Chapter 11, in Cosmetic Surgery. Ed Grant RT, Chen CM. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2010.
  • Kazanowski M, Gurtner G, “The Preoperative Evaluation of Patients Undergoing Chest Wall Reconstruction, “ Chapter 2, In Reconstructive Surgery of the Chest, Abdomen and Pelvis, ed. Evans GRD, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2003.

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

  • 2016 Plastic Surgery Department, New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Newest Trends in Injectables.
  • 2015 Plastic Surgery Department, New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Breast Augmentation.
  • 2014 Plastic Surgery Department, New York-Presbyterian Hospital.  Otoplasty.
  • 2014 Plastic Surgery Department, New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Planning for a Private Practice in Plastic Surgery.
  • 2013 Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons 30th Annual Meeting. Washington, The Relationship Between Breast Ptosis, Mastopexy Surgery, and Brassiere Cup Size.
  • 2013 Pediatric Department, Greenwich Hospital.  The Newborn Butterfly Project: Changing How We Approach Ear Molding.
  • 2012 The American Academy of Pediatrics, New Orleans, LA.  The Newborn Butterfly Project: A New Protocol for Ear Molding.
  • 2012 The Aesthetic Meeting, Vancouver, Canada. The Newborn Butterfly Project: Changing How Ears Are Molded.
  • 2012. Plastic Surgery Department, New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Congenital Facial Palsy.
  • 2011 Pediatric Professor Rounds, New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Campus, New York.  Ear Deformities and The Newborn Butterfly Project.
  • 2011 The American Association of Plastic Surgeons Meeting, Boca Raton, FL. Treatment of Axillary Hyperhidrosis with Botulinum Toxin: The Effect of Repeated Injections on Treatment Intervals.
  • 2011 Pediatric Conference, New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Campus, New York.  Ear Deformities: The Newborn Butterfly Project.
  • 2010 The Faces of Jerusalem. The Israeli Society of Plastic Surgery and the American Foundation for Aesthetic Surgery Excellence (F.A.S.E.), Jerusalem, Israel, Treatment of Axillary Hyperhidrosis with Botulinum Toxin: A Single Surgeon’s Experience with 53 Consecutive Patients.

MEDICAL PAPERS

The Newborn Butterfly Project
A Shortened Treatment Protocol for Ear Molding. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal. 2015.

The Caudal Septum Columellar Strut Graft
An Alternative for Tip Support. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal. 2015.

Postreduction Breast Augmentation
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal Global Open. 2015.

The Impact of Mastopexy on Brassiere Cup Size
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal. 2014.

Botulinum Toxin for the Treatment of Primary Focal Hyperhidrosis
Pretreatment Considerations, Technique and Expected Outcomes. Chapter I in Hyperhidrosis: Causes, Treatment Options and Outcomes. 2014.

Breast Augmentation
Novel Techniques, New Implants, and an Update on Complications. Prime. 2013.

Treatment of Hyperhidrosis with Botulinum Toxin
Aesthetic Surgery Journal. 2012

The “Fish” Mastopexy
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal. 2012

Treatment of Axillary Hyperhidrosis with Botulinum Toxin
A Single Surgeon’s Experience with 53 Consecutive Patients. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Journal. 2011

Examining Reduction Mammaplasty in Hispanic and African American Populations
A Changing Landscape in American Plastic Surgery. Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery. 2011

Treatment of Hyperextension Deformity of the Thumb Metacarpophalangeal Joint in Basal Joint Arthritis
A Novel Technique Based on an Anatomic Study. Techniques in Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery, 2011

EDUCATIONAL AFFILIATIONS

MEMBERSHIP AFFILIATIONS

HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS

INTERVIEW WITH DR DOFT

You feel really good when meeting Dr. Melissa Doft in her New York surgery, actually, you really get into her aesthetic already when browsing through her website, who shows images of faces and body pics that are naturally, interesting and have unusual perspective, not typical for a plastic surgery site. Dr. Melissa Doft was voted as a Rising Star in the New York Times. She graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College with Rufus Choate Honors, where she studied Biochemistry and Art History.

IRMA: My dermatologist once said to me that I am lucky to have acne: this way, he can prescribe me a retinol cream. He also said I should use that all my life, a little moisturizer- ditch all the other creams and get a facelift after 50 with the money I saved on expensive face creams if I think I need it then. Was he right?

DR MELISSA DOFT: I love this quote! It is very rare for a dermatologist to suggest going to a facelift. I do think that retinol is the best ingredient for the aging face. It is the only ingredient with such stellar clinical studies. Once a patient starts seeing extra skin and sagging around their jawline, a facelift is the only answer.  Nothing else comes close.

IRMA: I have some female friends that keep their beauty procedures a secret because they are ashamed of doing something so “un-feminism” – what would you say to them?

DR MELISSA DOFT: This question comes up often. Usually less so amongst friends and more so between a mother and daughter. Many of my patients who are mothers do not want their daughters to feel like they have to fix something and that they are born beautiful without needing any alteration. But on the other hand, now we have options which we never had before. And these options are becoming more and more prevalent and less and less risky. For most patients, there are one or two areas of their body which they are less comfortable with, why not change that and feel more confident? Being a feminist is about feeling confident and bold in our new world. If a little plastic surgery makes you stand taller, stand straighter, and feel stronger, isn’t that what being a feminist is all about?

IRMA: Are women doomed to modify their bodies and faces to every trend that comes up? From duck lips to big tush? Or are patients these days more interested in finding their own style/features?

DR MELISSA DOFT: I think both are true. There are many women looking to be part of the latest trend which would involve exaggerated lips or butt augmentation. But there are other women who are seeking classical proportions.  Similarly, they are plastic surgeons who are more on-trend, and there are those of us who believe that classic proportions will never go out of style. I always draw my influence from proportions which have stood the test of time and which we see over and over again from the Greek marble statues to more modern art.  I advise all patients to avoid new trends as those styles can become passé.

IRMA: What is the biggest fear for a plastic surgeon?

DR MELISSA DOFT: Having an unhappy patient.

IRMA: How do you find out what your patient REALLY wants?

DR MELISSA DOFT: I spend a long time with the patient in consultation to really try to understand their ideals and goals. Many patients will bring in photographs of other women or body parts which they find attractive. Sometimes I morph the patient’s photos to begin a dialogue as to what I think would look beautiful and what they think would look beautiful.  Having a similar aesthetic is crucial in achieving an outcome in which we are both happy.

IRMA: Is there a perfect face for everybody?

DR MELISSA DOFT: No. There is also a baseline facial skeleton that each of us has, which is often challenging to alter. But there are certain things which everyone likes like a well-defined jawline, a beautiful long neck, full lips, open eyes, asymmetric nose, a chin which is in balance with the nose.  The key to a perfect face is definition, balance, and symmetry.

IRMA: What do you like about your face/body, and what do you not like? Are you gonna fix it?

DR MELISSA DOFT: There are always things that you like and do not like about yourself. And sometimes things that you used to like, start to change.  I think the best features on my face are my eyes, high cheekbones, and an easy smile. Luckily having high cheekbones helps you a lot with aging. But I know it will not help me forever and then I will probably do something about it.

IRMA: What is the favorite part of your make up routine? And why?

DR MELISSA DOFT: I am very minimal with regard to my makeup routine. Our use Clé de Peau concealer under my eyes, Guerlain bronzer, Fresh sugar lip gloss and run out the door.  I have also been working on a skincare line for the past three years, which I love to use at night and in the morning. This is really my secret weapon. It’s not ready yet for retail-but I am hoping to share it in the future.

Full Article by Irma’s World: “You, Only Better”, One Of The Best Female Plastic Surgeons Working In NYC Today