Debra Stafford, M.D.
Board Certified Plastic Surgery
Board Certified Reconstructive Surgery
Dr Debra Stafford is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Dr Stafford has also obtained certification in general surgery and has maintained both of her certifications for over 25 years.
Dr Stafford had the desire to become a doctor at the age of 7 years old. She was well aware that one required a stellar record to obtain admission to medical school. Thus, she studied very hard and was a top student and received the “President’s Award” recognizing her position at the top of her class at the Buckley School as a high school senior. After completing high school, Dr Stafford attended the “The Program in Liberal Medical Education-PLME” at the ivy league school Brown University. The PLME program offered by Brown University identified young people at a very early stage who demonstrate a strong desire for a career in medicine. These students enter medical school after three years of undergraduate studies as opposed to the traditional four years and obtain their MD degrees after an additional four years of study.
Dr Stafford officially began the medicine portion of the PLME program in 1986 and graduated at the age of 24 years with her MD degree in 1990. After graduating from medical school with honors and numerous awards (Faculty Scholar) and being accepted as a member of the scientific honor society Sigma Xi, Dr Stafford began her internship in surgery at King-Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. During this time, Dr Stafford was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times and was featured in an article titled “Trained by Fire”. This article discussed the rigors of caring for critically injured patients who were victims of gang violence in the inner city of Los Angeles during the early 1990s. Dr Stafford also participated in basic science research which concluded in multiple scientific presentations and publications. She also served as chief resident in her senior year as a surgical resident. Dr Stafford completed her general surgery residency after 6 years and continued onto the world-renowned Mayo Clinic to participate in a plastic surgery residency. Due to her training at King-Drew Medical Center, Dr Stafford found herself very well prepared when she arrived at the Mayo Clinic and she loved learning the diverse and exciting field of plastic and reconstructive surgery.
During her two years at the Mayo Clinic, Dr Stafford not only became proficient in plastic surgery, but she also successfully navigated her general surgery boards scoring over 90 percentile on the written exam and receiving a pass (exam is pass/fail) in the oral exam. Dr Stafford completed her training in plastic and reconstructive surgery in 1998 and returned to her hometown of Los Angeles.
Immediately after completing her training at the Mayo Clinic, Dr Stafford successfully completed her written plastic surgery boards and served as the head of the plastic surgery department at King-Drew Medical Center. While at King-Drew, she performed complicated reconstructive surgeries including cleft lip and palate repair in infants. Dr Stafford completed her oral plastic surgery board exam in 2000 and became fully certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. She has successfully recertified in plastic surgery in 2010 and 2020.
After her time at King-Drew Medical Center, Dr Stafford decided that she wanted to dedicate her plastic surgery career towards aesthetic surgery and medicine. She currently specializes in aesthetic medicine and surgery of the face, breast and body.
Dr Stafford embraces modern and innovative surgical techniques, instrumentation and technology to achieve effective and safe results in addition to providing patients as rapid and comfortable recovery as possible. Dr Stafford has extensive experience in body, breast and facial aesthetic surgery. In addition, Dr Stafford has substantial experience in performing liposuction and excisional body contouring in awake patients. Dr Stafford works diligently to provide her patients a good experience during their procedures with minimal pain. Her patients give her high reviews in bedside manner.
Aesthetic medicine can be particularly challenging for the aesthetic/cosmetic surgeon because aesthetic surgery is elective and patients have spent their entire lives looking at their own bodies in conjunction with societal standards and expectations and some will have very specific and detailed visions of how they wish to look. Dr Stafford believes that often, the most important thing any physician can do (especially a plastic/cosmetic surgeon) for their patients is to listen. Dr Stafford is very good at connecting to patients and putting them at ease and allaying their fears concerning undergoing a procedure. Furthermore, Dr Stafford has extensive experience in body contouring in all body types including full figured individuals with higher BMIs. Dr Stafford possesses a strong aesthetic eye and works with her patients to develop a customized treatment plan that would fit the patients’ needs and desires.
