A Woman Said A Plastic Surgeon Isn't A 'Real Doctor' & So Many Stories Are Proving Her Wrong

A woman is receiving a lot of support after sharing on Reddit that some of her relatives don't think her being a plastic surgeon makes her a real doctor.

This article contains content that may be upsetting to some of our readers.

The physician posted a story on the popular forum Am I The A**hole and many people are coming to her defense sharing their own stories of how plastic surgeons have helped them or their family members.

In her post, the 35-year-old woman says she spent years in medical school and residency to become a plastic surgeon.

As for her family, her parents and siblings have always been very supportive of her career choice.

However, when it came to other relatives, they were not as impressed with her medical specialization.

"They were all happy when they knew I was in med school but completely flipped when they found out I was pursuing plastic surgery," she wrote.

The woman's aunt has been especially unsupportive and the Redditor says recently she's made that especially clear.

The aunt has been rubbing it in the Redditor's face that her cousin, who is the aunt's daughter, is working on getting a certificate in nursing and childcare. Then the aunt took it too far at a family dinner.

"It's great that she's [the cousin] going into medical school," the post reads. "Maybe we can finally have a REAL doctor in the family."

The Redditor says she sat there in silence, but then snapped and pointed out that her cousin isn't actually in medical school and is "too dumb for that" and she wouldn't "last a week."

"My aunt looked really pissed off and yelled at me for being rude and then she told me I wasn't much of a doctor either," she added that her aunt then started crying and left the room.

Following the spat, the woman says she's received a bunch of texts from other family members telling her to apologize to her aunt. However, her parents and siblings don't think she has anything to apologize for.

"Now I'm being shunned by both sides of the family and they're all refusing to talk to me and won't even let me tell my side of the story."

The woman's post has received a lot of responses, with many people calling out the aunt for believing that a plastic surgeon isn't a "real doctor."

“Plastic surgeons do a lot more than boob jobs and face lifts. They really, really help people with very important work. We need them," one person wrote.

Others shared their own stories about how plastic surgeons have helped them.

One person commented that they are a breast cancer survivor who had reconstructive surgery after their lumpectomy.

"My surgical oncologist removed the cancer and then my plastic surgeon repaired my breast and made them match. My plastic surgeon is an integral part of my oncology team and Im so grateful for his skill and care," the person continued.

"I had an uncle who suffered terrible burn injuries, including facial burns, in a helicopter crash," another person shared. "The plastic surgeons who restored a semblance of his face, who rebuilt his nose and ears, were real doctors."

"A guy in my high school went through a windshield and absolutely destroyed his face," another person stated. "Plastic surgery got him looking almost back to normal."

One person noted that people are "out of date" with the Hollywood idea that plastic surgeons only want to get rich by helping "wealthy vain people" with boob jobs.

"They forget about all the people that need reconstructive surgery because of car accidents, fires, flesh-eating bacteria etc. Your aunt sounds ignorant," the person continued.

Another person echoed the statement about how important plastic surgeons are for victims involved in accidents.

"According to your family, accident victims don't need facial reconstruction surgery, huh? They assume that you are just out there catering to liposuction and nose jobs for people with too much money," they wrote.

While the woman's family may have their own ideas about plastic surgery, it's clear that the majority of people who commented on the Reddit post consider the surgeons to be skilled and valuable doctors who help improve the quality of life for a lot of patients.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.