Dr. Linda Li is the first female surgeon featured on the E Network’s popular plastic surgery reality series “Dr. 90210.” In fact, she is the only woman plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills with her own surgery center. Raised in Richland, Wash., she attended Boston University for both her undergraduate and medical degrees, and opened her practice in Los Angeles in 2000. Li, 35, works with her husband, anesthesiologist Bill Fulcher. She said that helps give her practice more of a down-to-earth feel than the typical plastic surgeon’s office. The couple has an 11-month-old son, Max, and Li is expecting a daughter early next year.

Question: How has being featured on “Dr. 90210” changed your practice?

Answer:

It’s funny. People often recognize me now because of the show, but the idea of being on “Dr. 90210” was not about being any kind of celebrity myself by being on TV. It was a business decision. I did the show for the business impact it would have, to solidify us and bring in referrals.

It’s put my practice at a level that I couldn’t have reached without that level of exposure, because it shows my practice and the way I work, which are the kinds of things you could never put in an ad. Cosmetic surgery is all about marketing and perception.

Q: How did you end up on “Dr. 90210”?

A:

My husband was working with one of the surgeons from the show’s first season and ended up chatting with the producer. It came up that there were no female surgeons on the show, and Bill, of course, suggested me. I talked with the producers and here we are.

Q: How much business has the show brought you?

A:

We used to have two filing cabinet shelves filled with patients’ charts. Now I have eight. Due to the show, I am now booked out to May with new patient consultations and am booked for surgery right up until my month of maternity leave in mid-January.

Q: You were on the show and performing surgery through most of your pregnancy. Was it difficult?

A:

I was operating six weeks after my son was born, and I worked up until three days before I delivered. I’ve always been really physically active, so physically it wasn’t too difficult. And when you love what you do, it’s good to be at work.

Q: Do you get a lot of patients with unreasonable expectations, people who want you to work miracles?

A:

As a doctor you absolutely must exercise sound medical judgment. If somebody comes in and says they want to look like Claudia Schiffer, there’s just no way that could ever happen. There are certain things you can’t change altogether, but you can make improvements. I specialize primarily in body contouring, like tummy tucks, liposuction, breast reconstruction and augmentation.

Q: Do you think being a female gives you an advantage in your field?

A:

Most of my patients are women, and a lot of them are like me: young mothers who just want body-contouring improvements because things aren’t quite where they used to be. I know a lot of male surgeons who are amazing, and very artistic. In a general sense, though, it really helps to be a female when you are operating on women you understand a lot about where they are coming from and our insecurities. You can definitely relate.

Q: How important is the patient’s attitude?

A:

Every woman has an idea in her head of what she wants to look like or what she thinks she should look like; my job is to interpret that and bring out what they want. I don’t have to live in their body; they do, so it has to be about what they think. It’s like a pair of shoes if they hurt, it doesn’t matter how pretty they are.

Q: Have you turned patients away, like those who are addicted to surgery, for instance?

A:

Absolutely I did it just today. Those are the patients who don’t know what they want they’ll ask me what is it that they need. There’s nothing I do that you need. It can be scary because you realize there are a lot of people who are not good candidates for surgery.

Q: How do you respond to the critics who say that your field plastic surgery glorifies the superficial?

A:

Everybody has their own idea of what’s right and wrong for them and we shouldn’t make judgments on superficiality. Nobody has that right; it’s completely individual. I do breast reconstruction for cancer patients; that’s the kind of thing that can’t be argued with. It’s something I don’t do for money; I do it for karma points.

Q: You work with your husband, Bill Fulcher. What’s that like?

A:

My husband is an anesthesiologist, and he works exclusively with me. That’s part of what sets us apart, because most anesthesiologists get their assignments and review patients’ charts the morning of surgery. Bill is familiar with my patients far in advance; he’s been reading their charts for weeks. We worked together sometimes when I was starting out, and always wanted to work together full time. Once I got enough patients about two years ago, we could afford to work together exclusively. When I was struggling, he was supporting us, and practiced at a number of places, including USC and Kaiser Permanente in West L.A.

Q: Beverly Hills is known as the plastic surgery capital of the United States, so it seems that business would be good here, even for a surgeon just starting out. Is that true?

A:

I opened my practice in 2000, and in my first six months practicing, I made $1,200. I wasn’t making anything because I didn’t have a patient base yet, and it was very, very hard the first few years. My husband was supporting us because I wasn’t making any money. With plastic surgery, it’s all about patient referrals to friends, to family. Other specialists and surgeons rely on referrals, too, but they tend to come from other doctors or medical professionals. People don’t get plastic surgery referrals from doctors they ask their friends or if they see good work they’ll ask who did it. It can take a lot of time to build from the ground up.

Q: How long do you think you’ll practice in Beverly Hills?

A:

I think I’ll probably be in Beverly Hills forever. I signed a 10-year lease for this office and my surgery center last November.

Dr. Linda Li



Title:

Founder, Aesthetic Perfection surgery center

Born:

Morgantown, W.V., 1970

Education:

B.S. and M.D., Boston University

Career Turning Point:

Starring on E! Network’s “Dr. 90210”

Most Influential:

“My parents, because they raised me in a way that I never realized there was anything that was out of reach. There were no limits as to what I could achieve in life.”

Personal:

Lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Dr. Bill Fulcher, and 11-month-old son, Max. Expecting a second child (a daughter) early next year.

Hobbies:

Yoga, spinning (cycling)