How your pre-evaluation works

Nothing on this page obliges you to anything. What follows is simply how the clinic works, told plainly, so that nothing comes as a surprise later.

Why we ask for photographs

We are an international clinic, and for most patients the first assessment happens before you ever travel. That assessment rests on two things: correct medical information, and photographs that are sufficient in number and taken properly.

The photographs are not a formality. Their quality determines which treatment options are suitable for you, and the option chosen changes the extent of the operation, the recovery time and the risks involved. If the photographs are not optimal, the evaluation could be incomplete or misleading.

Without them, Dr. Sürmeli cannot assess your case, prepare a surgical plan, give a price, or offer an appointment date.

When the photographs are good, the plan prepared beforehand is very likely to be the plan that is carried out. Without them the plan can change on the day — which is exactly what we would like to spare you.

Taking them is easier than it sounds

Photographs are not sent by email or by message. They go through a secure upload page, where you will also find an illustrated guide for your area — face and nose, breast, or body — showing each pose you need. Follow it picture by picture and nothing is left to guess.

For the breast, for example, the guide asks for six: front with your arms relaxed, left and right at forty-five degrees, front with your arms raised, and each side.

• Daylight, a plain background, no filters.
• Keep the same distance in every photo.
• For breast photographs, please do not hold the camera or phone yourself — it distorts the breast shape and can affect the treatment plan. Ask someone to take them, or use a timer.
• If you have wish photos — example images of a result you like — you are welcome to add those too.

What happens to your photographs

Your photographs are sent over an encrypted connection directly to the clinic, and are used only for your medical evaluation by Dr. Sürmeli.

You are asked to give your consent before they are accepted, under KVKK and GDPR — without it we cannot accept them at all.

If you would rather not send photographs

Whether you send them is entirely your decision, and we will never press you for them. We understand completely that some people would rather not.

In that case we kindly ask you to come to Istanbul for a face-to-face consultation with Dr. Sürmeli, and the plan is made there instead.

We never proceed to surgery immediately after that consultation.

The interval before surgery

Dr. Sürmeli keeps to fixed rules on timing, for the safety of the patient and of the surgical team alike: a minimum interval, normally not less than two weeks, between the evaluation and the operation. There are three reasons for it, and we would rather give you all three.

The first is you. That time is yours: to read the plan properly, to ask anything further, to weigh the treatment options and the alternatives against each other, and — if you wish — to take a second opinion from another surgeon. Nobody should agree to an operation on the day they first hear about it. The plan is prepared and reviewed in this period, and any tests you need are arranged, but the time is not there for paperwork. It is there for you.

The second is what the face-to-face consultation changes. Everything before it is a pre-evaluation — a surgeon assessing the case of someone who is considering surgery. The consultation is the point at which that becomes a medical and legal undertaking, for you and for us. It is also when you receive the consent booklets for your operation, and those are written to be read in detail, not signed on the spot. Reading them properly can take one to two weeks on its own.

The third reason is our schedule, and we prefer to state it plainly. Dr. Sürmeli’s operating list is normally full for the coming two weeks. Patients who already have their dates keep them; we do not move someone else’s operation to fit a new patient in sooner. Once you have a date of your own, that protection is yours as well.

All three come to the same thing: you are never hurried, and no pressure is placed on you at any point. That is the ethical position this clinic has held since 2017.

How pricing works

Price information is not given in advance. After Dr. Sürmeli’s evaluation, a personalized surgical plan is created, and the pricing is determined according to that plan.

Once your surgical plan has been finalized, the price details are shared with you, based on the recommended procedures.

When you are ready

There is no date by which you must decide, and nothing begins until you choose to begin. When you would like to, your questionnaire and photographs go through the secure page.

If you would rather ask something first, ask. Nothing else has to happen in the meantime.