About Dr. Downey

Susan Downey, M.D., F.A.C.S.

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Dr. Susan Downey is a board certified plastic surgeon who has been in practice in the Los Angeles area for since 1989. Dr Downey's practice covers the full range of plastic surgery from cosmetic surgery such as facelifts, breast augmentations, and abdominoplasties, and other body contouring procedures to reconstructive procedures such as breast reductions and breast reconstruction after cancer treatments.

A significant portion of Dr. Downey’s practice is the reconstruction of the breast after cancer treatments.

She works closely with the oncologic breast surgeons as well as the medical oncologists and radiation oncologists to maximize the reconstructive results. She is always working to help improve the reconstructive results and was recently an investigator in a study to evaluate the use of Seri Surgical Scaffold in primary breast reconstruction. She is currently involved in a study to evaluate the use of larger breast implants for reconstruction after a mastectomy for cancer.

Dr. Downey also has a particular interest in post massive weight loss patients especially after Bariatric procedures and has over 25 years’ experience in the field. She has been asked to teach at many national and international plastic surgery meetings on the care and treatment of patients after weight loss and was one of the faculty members for the longest running course offered at the American Society of Plastic Surgery’s annual meeting entitled :”Post-Bariatric Surgery : Body Contouring , Reconstructive Considerations and Optimal Outcomes”. She has contributed five chapters to various textbooks on the subject of plastic surgery after weight loss covering topics such as brachioplasties (arm lifts), thighplasties, and abdominoplasties.

Dr. Downey is Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and is an active member of numerous professional societies including the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS) and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), the American Association of Plastic Surgeons (AAPS) and the California Society of Plastic Surgeons.

She has held the position of Governor of the American College of Surgeons representing ASAPS. She has also held the positions of Co-Chair of the Bariatric Task Force for ASAPS as well as Co-Chair of the ASAPS Women's Health Advocacy Committee. She also served as Co-Chairman of the Nominating Committee for the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Downey is a Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine.

Dr. Downey received her undergraduate degree from Smith College in Northampton, MA and earned her medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.

She completed her residency in General Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and a residency in Plastic Surgery at the Columbia University – Presbyterian Hospital in New York. Continuing her education, Dr. Downey completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Plastic Surgery at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, California. In December 2014 she completed her Masters in Health Administration form the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.

Beginning in her residency training Dr. Downey has traveled with organizations such as Operation Smile and Resurge (formerly Interplast) to over 15 different countries to help children born with facial defects such as cleft lip. Her most recent trip was to Ecuador with Dr. Jorge Palacios and his group Rostros Felices. In addition to many national and international lectures and numerous publications in medical journals Dr. Downey is credited with films for the Learning Channel, Lifetime, The Discovery Channel and the History Channel. Dr. Downey has received many awards including being listed in “The Best Doctors in America” since 2000.

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