For years people have talked about who is considered to be the best hair transplant doctor in the country, or the world and there are always a few names that are always mentioned. Dr. Ron Shapiro, a Minnesota hair transplant doctor, is one of those names that keeps getting repeated year after year. I've known Dr. Shapiro off and on for many years with the occasional face to face encounters or phone call to talk about various issues of mutual interest or at conferences but one thing that I've never known is how he operates his own clinic and what makes him unique among his peers. It is easy to assume that with a worldwide reputation for hair transplant excellence that he must be running a tight ship but one of the things I've learned over the years is that the reputation does not always necessarily match reality.
Minnesota Hair Transplant
The first time I met with "Dr. Ron" (as his patients like to call him) since I went independent was in Istanbul in June, 2015 at the 3rd Annual Mediterranean Workshop hosted by Dr. Erdogan. You may have seen my two part FUE hair transplant interview that I did with him where we talk about the issues with FUE in the industry and how some clinics view the procedure compared to FUSS. I got to spend a bit of time with him along with his wife and his adorable baby son and it was nice to get to know him a bit better than in the past. We then were able to talk more a few months later in Chicago at the ISHRS conference in September, 2015. It was at this point that we started talking about a collaboration and I let him know that in order for us to work together I'd have to make a trip to see how he does things. Six months later I was on a plane, with my first stop to see Dr. Cooley again, and then after a short layover to see family and friends, I headed up to see this world famous Minnesota hair transplant doctor and how he does things. Below you'll see the first video in a series that will be published over the next several weeks to show you how one Minnesota hair transplant clinic operates.
In this video I start out with much of the same of how each video series begins. You'll get an idea of the location relative to the clinic and I'll show you the hotel room I stayed in which is pretty standard for all of the patients that come to get a Minnesota hair transplant with Dr. Shapiro. The nice thing is that the hotel has a convenient shuttle service that they offer that takes patients to the clinic every morning. You'll most likely get "Scott" as your driver and he'll give you a quick description of what you can do nearby for entertainment. The shuttle service can also take you further into town so you can enjoy restaurants and shopping including the Mall of America, which until recently, was the biggest mall in the world. If you want a good restaurant I highly recommend Pittsburgh Blue which an EXCELLENt steak house. I recommend you order the side of hash browns as it is absolutely incredible! Don't forget to bring a couple of bucks to tip Scott your driver as they do appreciate the tips. The drive to the clinic is no more than five minutes and Scott takes you right up to the front door. Hop out and head up to the fifth floor and you're taken care of from there.
Again, the video above is just the first video in this series highlighting Minnesota hair transplant doctor Dr. Ron Shapiro and what the hotel is like that you will be staying in and how you get to the clinic. All of your hair geeks looking for the juicy footage of his surgeries will have to wait till the next few videos to see the good stuff but those of you that are planning to head over to see Dr. Shapiro will recognize some of the sights you see in this video.
