Combining Love for Adventure and Philanthropy: Dr. Ross Blagg Has Found a Way to Serve the Community by Following His Passion
It would be unjust to refer to Dr. Ross Blagg as only a ‘plastic surgeon.’ His dreams and passions go beyond his profession. The truth is that by practicing his profession, he has been able to chase his cravings for adventure, travel, and philanthropy. Though, at a young age, he has already experienced a lifetime of each, there is no stopping in sight.
His life has been an epic adventure right from his childhood. With his first SCUBA dive at thirteen years of age, he found himself in love with the ocean. Since then, he has dived around the world, helping with conservation efforts of the Great Barrier Reef while living in Australia. He’s also a well-known shark conservationist, and enjoys diving with these apex predators yearly.
When Dr. Blagg chose plastic surgery as a career, there were two reasons behind it.
In his adolescence, Ross loved the arts. He loved painting and the creative process, in general. Having had open heart surgery as an infant, he was naturally drawn to medicine, feeling that it was a calling. When he discovered how plastic surgery fuses art and science, he was hooked. “Once I learned more about plastic surgery, I was amazed at the breadth of the field. Many people don’t realize that plastic surgeons help burn victims, children with cleft lips, breast cancer survivors, and people suffering from traumatic injuries, such as facial fractures and hand injuries,” says Dr. Blagg, remembering why he first chose the specialty.
Eventually, when he completed the required academic and practical exposure to plastic surgery and started practicing, now was the time to do what this adventurer-turned-doctor always dreamt of; helping people needing surgery. “I always knew I wanted to do surgical mission work,” remembers the doctor. “It’s one of the reasons I chose surgery as a specialty. It’s amazing to be able to travel across the globe and use skills I’ve spent years acquiring to help those who wouldn’t otherwise have options.”
Guatemala and Haiti were the first countries he chose to carry out humanitarian surgical missions.However, when COVID-19 halted Dr. Blagg’s overseas missions.
But it is often difficult for a person like Ross to sit idle. Hence, it didn’t take him long to start a new domestic project, Plastic Surgery Road Trip (PSRT), as an alternative to foreign philanthropic adventures. PSRT is now presented as a docu-series on YouTube that follows Dr. Ross and friends as they road trip across the country, looking for amazing individuals who need plastic surgery to help complete their stories. Along the way, this adventuresome surgeon creates lasting adventurous memories, giving the series a travel/adventure feel while also delivering a heart-warming story and a plastic surgery makeover. Dr. Blagg chose plastic surgery in part for the fusion of art and science–it seems he’s taking that fusion to a new level with his pandemic-inspired project.
Follow the journey on the YouTube Plastic Surgery Road Trip channel, and follow the daily adventures of Dr. Ross on Instagram: @dr.rossblagg. He is currently filming more for the project, and we’re all privy to the ride. Who knows what this creative guy will do next.
