Inside Syracuse Plastic Surgery – Why Patients Keep Driving Hours to See Dr. DeRoberts

On a weekday afternoon in Syracuse, you’ll pass low-slung medical buildings that blend in with the surroundings when you drive down East Genesee Street. These are the kinds of places you only notice when you have a reason to. From the outside, Syracuse Plastic Surgery appears modest, with a parking lot that is typically fuller than one might anticipate for a practice that doesn’t rely on eye-catching billboards or aggressive social media campaigns. Speaking with those who have passed through those doors gives me the impression that something more subdued is happening inside.

For years, Dr. Dean DeRoberts has been at the center of that. He received board certification from the American Board of Plastic Surgery, trained at SUNY Upstate, completed his residency at Wake Forest, and then spent a portion of his early career in Florida, where he was listed as one of Jacksonville Magazine’s “Top Docs” in 2007 and 2008. It may not seem important, but that detail is crucial. For cosmetic surgeons, Florida is a harsh market. There, reputations are quickly put to the test, and those who survive typically return with something.

He returned to Syracuse with a distinct sensibility that was more measured and less Miami. The same thing is frequently mentioned by patients who have sat across from him during consultations: he doesn’t push. There is no glossy brochure ritual or upsell theater intended to persuade you to undergo a procedure you didn’t request. People in Central New York don’t usually react well to being sold to, so it’s possible that this is a regional instinct as much as a personal one. However, it’s also a decision, as evidenced by the practice’s reviews and the clinic’s gradual growth through word-of-mouth.

Instead of being opportunistic, the team has grown in ways that seem deliberate. Dr. Enrique Armenta, a surgeon whose resume reads like a novel, joined the practice following an incredible career that started in solo practice in the Andes Mountains of Colombia and progressed through the Cleveland Clinic and Rochester. In Upstate New York, he carried out the first finger replantation. The newest member, Dr. Ruter, trained at what is regarded as the busiest trauma center in New York before joining Albany Medical Center in 2024. For a practice this size, the three of them together represent a depth of experience that is, to be honest, uncommon.

Additionally, scholarly research is being conducted that isn’t always discussed in circles related to cosmetic surgery. DeRoberts is a co-author of a 2024 systematic review on body contouring as gender-affirming surgery published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. This study shows a willingness to work with areas of the field that haven’t always gotten significant clinical attention. It’s a minor detail, but it points to a surgeon who continues to read, teach, and inquire. Once a doctor is 25 years into their career, you don’t always find that in private practice.

The clinic’s cultural impact in Central New York is more difficult to quantify. Patients come by car from Binghamton, Rochester, and even farther away. Some come for facelifts, while others come for the smaller procedures that have become the mainstay of contemporary aesthetic medicine, such as liquid rhinoplasty or under-eye filler. It’s unlikely that DeRoberts is particularly interested in becoming well-known outside of the area. Observing the practice’s operations, it appears that other priorities are in place, such as the work itself, the next patient entering the Genesee Street office, and doing it correctly.