Dr. Deepak Dugar on Open Heart with Priya Rao, MD
In a field that often rewards more, more procedures, more change, more urgency, restraint can feel almost radical. In medicine, discernment is a skill. In aesthetic medicine, it is an ethical obligation.
On a recent episode of Open Heart with Priya Rao, MD, interventional cardiologist and host, Dr. Deepak Dugar joins a conversation about what it means to practice with limits, to recognize when a patient is seeking a solution that surgery cannot ethically provide, and to treat the decision to decline surgery as part of the work, not the exception.
Dr. Dugar is a double board certified facial plastic surgeon who devotes his practice exclusively to endonasal closed rhinoplasty. In this episode, the focus is not technique. It is judgment, emotional intelligence, and the responsibility that comes with operating at the intersection of identity, insecurity, and permanent anatomical change.
Episode page: https://openheartpodcast.com/episodes/dr-deepak-dugar
Key themes discussed
- Saying no as a clinical skill, not a rejection
- How emotional intelligence influences surgical outcomes and patient experience
- Boundaries, pressure, and the demands placed on high performers in medicine
- Service, mentorship, and the quiet discipline behind mastery
- The role of intuition and self reflection in patient selection and physician wellbeing
Highlights by timestamp
- 00:00 Introduction and why this conversation matters
- 01:51 Dugar’s path into rhinoplasty and the discipline of specialization
- 05:56 Emotional intelligence in plastic surgery, reading what patients are really asking for
- 19:11 Acts of kindness and service as part of professional identity
- 29:22 Gender dynamics and expectations in medicine and plastic surgery
- 32:05 The emotional impact of aesthetic change, and what surgery can and cannot resolve
- 37:45 Energy, intuition, and patient relationships
- 49:45 Final reflections on ethics, discernment, and saying no
Listen and watch
- Episode page: https://openheartpodcast.com/episodes/dr-deepak-dugar
- Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwWuORGY2QQ
- Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-plastic-surgeon-who-makes-his-reputation-by-saying-no/id1847489871?i=1000743181032
- Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7lHYNkcqvG8TmyA9EAiyVk?si=-EzTGwqWSfSDCDYyseyeTQ
Learn more on ScarlessNose.com
- Meet Dr. Deepak Dugar
- A Legacy of Excellence
- Types of Scarless Nose Rhinoplasty
- Before and After Rhinoplasty Results
Further reading
Be You To Full, So Beautiful: https://a.co/d/9LO2KIP
