While in med school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, a surgeon advised Dr. David Amron to choose one thing and be the best at that one thing.

The Los Angeles native took that advice to heart. He’s now one of the top liposuction specialists in the country—in the world, actually. Patients fly in from around the globe for his “lipo-sculpting” skills.

Yes, he likens liposuction to sculpting. “There’s so much artistry in liposuction, it really is a contouring and sculpting procedure,” says the 50-year-old Amron who has a thriving Beverly Hills practice. “Liposuction may seem deceptively easy—you’re just kind of sucking fat out. But it’s about knowing where to target, what you’re trying to create, the artistry, the judgment, knowing how to get to the endpoint.”

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who has unwanted body fat is a good candidate for liposuction. If a person simply needs to lose weight and get in shape, he’ll reject them. Amron only accepts patients whose bodies are disproportionate.

“Liposuction is all about balancing a person’s proportions and removing genetically disproportionate areas of fat storage,” he says. “It is a technique to reduce areas of fatty tissue that cannot be reduced by diet and exercise.”

When a patient comes for liposuction, the only major surgery he performs, Amron doesn’t use general anesthesia to put them to sleep. He uses local anesthesia in the areas he’ll be targeting.

“The procedure I use is ‘tumescent liposuction,’” says Amron. “It’s far safer and has a far faster recovery. The most important advantage is the ability to really position that patient perfectly. I am so particular about exactly how a patient is positioned, I’m constantly making the patient assume a slightly different position. It really is a sculpting procedure.”

While the youngest person he’s even worked on was 17, and the oldest 86, the average age of his patients is 35-40. Women, who make up 75 percent of his patients, tend to get liposuction after they’ve had children. Of his male patients (about a third of whom are gay), they come in wanting work on four specific areas—flanks (love handles), abdomen, chest and neck.

About half of his practice is revision work—correcting work done by other liposuction surgeons. “Liposuction is the most messed up surgery of all the cosmetic surgeries,” he reports, adding that his revision rate is virtually zero. “If it’s poorly done, many times it’s very difficult to make great improvements.”

That’s why it’s important to research surgeons carefully. “My philosophy is the more people learn and understand, the better chance they have to make the right choice in a surgeon,” says Amron. “The more they make a quick, snap decision or fall prey to some marketing thing, the bigger chance they have of making the wrong decision. The most important decision is choosing the right doctor.”

120 S. Spalding Dr., Ste. 315, Bev Hills, (310) 275-2467; expertliposuction.com