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Room With A View

Patients, young and old, are welcome at a new oculoplastic and cosmetic surgery center in Kirkland.

Article by Mary Bernard

Photography by Chelsea Macor Photography and Marina Park Plastic Surgery

Originally published in Kirkland Lifestyle

Room With A View

It was a busy fall for Zachary Joos, M.D. Not only did he open his own practice, Marina Park Plastic Surgery, but the birth of his third child—and first son—was imminent. Just days after this we spoke on the phone in mid-November, his son Noah was born. 

Dr. Joos’s new enterprise, for specialty care in cosmetic and reconstructive oculoplastic surgery, sits at the corner of Central Way and Market Street in Kirkland. With its view of Lake Washington, and ground-floor-level address in a building with condominiums above, it is a unique setting, and that’s what Dr. Joos was aiming for. “It has a boutique feel to it,” he said. 

The clinic serves patients from infants to centenarians, providing both functional/reconstructive surgery and aesthetic services. What Dr. Joos enjoys most about his practice is “being able to help people with whatever problem they come in with, guiding them through the process of treatment and seeing them come out the other side,” he said.

Paterfamilias Ties

An interest in ocular medicine runs in the family. Dr. Joos’s father has been an eye surgeon in Renton for 40 years. No wonder, then, that the son would have an interest in ophthalmology and eye surgery, having grown up with it. Indeed, Dr. Joos accompanied his father on humanitarian medical missions as a young man, and he witnessed how much impact the interventions the physicians did could have on people’s lives. After he finished his education and fellowship training, he worked with his father for a time before deciding to set up his own practice. 

Part of his specialty training included a fellowship in Australia. Dr. Joos explained that he was drawn to international work to learn new ways to practice medicine and broaden his perspective. “Training overseas helped me expand my skillset,” he said. Australia’s perpetually sunny climate means, unfortunately, that there is a large population of people with skin cancer, so he had the opportunity to do complex surgeries with a strong emphasis on skin cancer reconstruction. (To protect the eyes, Dr. Joos recommends sunscreen, sunglasses, and regular skin and eye checkups.)

Humanitarian Work

Dr. Joos has maintained his interest in philanthropy. As an adjunct assistant professor at the Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah, where he is an alumnus, he participates in missions, as he is able. His last trip, in 2018, was to Tanzania, where the team performed hundreds of eye surgeries over the course of 10 days. 

The goal of the Moran Eye Center Global Outreach program is twofold: offer medical services and promote sustainability. In other words, the goal is to train local ophthalmologists in surgical techniques so that they can continue providing services after the mission leaders leave. “We provide hands-on training with our partners on the ground,” Dr. Joos said. 

Thanks to his affiliation with Moran, he has also been part of surgical “eye care camps” for the Navajo Nation in Utah, performing cataract surgery and providing other ophthalmic care for this vastly underserved population. 

Patient Services

Dr. Joos welcomes all patients who may need his help, functional or aesthetic. He sees a lot of people who have functional problems that affect their activities of daily living (ADLs) such as droopy eyelids that impair vision and therefore compromise quality of life. Other patients are interested in cosmetic surgery, which he says is “becoming more in vogue, even for men.”

On the functional/reconstructive side, services include treatment for eyelid and facial skin cancers, orbital fractures and trauma, thyroid eye disease, tear duct surgery, and more. On the cosmetic side, services include eyelid lifts, brow and forehead lifts, revisional surgery and others. Non-surgical cosmetic procedures include Botox, dermal fillers, chemical peels, and laser skin treatments such as fractional resurfacing.

When it comes to cosmetic surgery, Dr. Joos recognizes that there are “aggressive surgeons” out there, but his philosophy is more conservative. “My approach is more about rejuvenation,” he said, where someone looks more rested, perhaps, but the surgery “doesn’t call attention to itself.” He notes that people come in every day and say, “I don’t want to look like [insert name here],” recalling celebrities whose plastic surgeries seem to have gone memorably awry. 

“I open my doors to anyone in the patient population,” Dr. Joos said, “but it has to be a partnership.” If someone’s expectations are unrealistic, based perhaps on reality shows or photos found on the Internet, he may refer them to another physician if they cannot come to terms. To have a good partnership, it is essential to establish rapport and set appropriate expectations. “When you’re 60 years old, you’re not going to look like you’re 20, and you wouldn’t want to,” he said.

Room to Grow

There are emerging technologies in this field, and Dr. Joos cited the promise of immunotherapies. For example, there is a new immunotherapy medication for thyroid eye disease (TED), where inflammation of the eye muscles, eyelids, and fatty tissues of the eye socket causes bulging of the eyes and affects both medical and psychological well-being. The immunotherapy treatment is administered via IV infusion every three weeks for a period of five months and has proven effective in reducing the effects of this difficult disease. “It is crucial to stay on top of new developments in your field, and our practice strives to be on the cutting edge,” he said.

For more information on Marina Park Plastic Surgery, visit www.marinaparkplastics.com.

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