Article from The Oakville Beaver
When Dr. Otto Weiglein started medical school at the University of Calgary he didn’t know what kind of doctor he ultimately wanted to be, but he knew he didn’t want to go into family medicine. So when he was presented with a family doctor project just two weeks into his program, he quickly found a way out, meeting a plastic surgeon in the hospital cafeteria looking for a student to work on a project.
Dr. Weiglein soon found himself working on plastic surgeries on animals from the Calgary zoo. And, without even knowing the full scope of what becoming a plastic surgeon would entail, he knew that’s what he wanted to do. “It was life changing,” he says as he describes his moment of clarity and admits that for him, it is the best job there is.
His passion and enthusiasm for his practice and his patients is clear. At The Centre For Personal Surgery Dr. Weiglein specializes in cosmetic surgery of the face, body and breasts, as well as skin care, Botox fillers, hydrafacials and Intense Pulsed Light treatments.
Though he started a general plastic and reconstructive surgery practice with privileges in Oakville and Burlington hospitals in 1982, after 11 years Dr. Weiglein opened The Centre for Personal Surgery because he believed cosmetic surgery clients weren’t appropriately treated in a general hospital setting.
The Centre was the region’s first freestanding cosmetic surgery centre in 1993 and today, Dr. Weiglein gives patients the service and safety only a dedicated team can provide.
The team, comprised of long-standing employees, are a key component in Dr. Weiglein’s success as a cosmetic surgeon. Though he’s the artist behind all of the work, he relies on them for their clinical expertise and to ensure clients receive support and confidentiality – even going so far as to offer limo services for those who want privacy and convenience.
It’s the newness of each day that keeps Dr. Weiglein motivated about his work and his passion for his patients is clear in how he discusses his ethical dealings with them. Not one to look at people and their expectations as a means to financial gain, the cosmetic surgeon is dedicated to dealing with people that will benefit from the services he offers and ensuring they are appropriate candidates. He understands that the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery is one heavily driven by emotion and he takes pride, and receives great gratification, in having so many happy and realistic patients.
The result is a business that has grown through word-of-mouth and Dr. Weiglein’s ability to stay on the “leading edge, not bleeding edge,” of the industry, he jokes, as well as the opening of sister company, Cosmedica-Professional Skin Care Centres.
“I love to go to work,” Dr. Weiglein says simply, and that is evident in everything he does.