Methodology Magazine
Follow us
Editorial Director: Fred J. Bressler, MD
Senior Editor: Sheryl E. Taylor
Contributing Writers: Erin Graham & Denise Hensley
Digital Graphic Designer: Sara Carr
Copyright 2024. Houston Methodist, Houston, TX. All rights reserved.
Share this page
result
Departmental Spotlight:
Andrea Farrar
Departmental Spotlight:
Andrea Farrar
Andrea Farrar came to healthcare for the job and career, but she stayed for the people and patients she would meet.
“I love our patients, and I try to guide them through the process, whether it’s as simple as Botox injections or as complicated as reconstructive surgery,” said Farrar, who recently was promoted to Patient Care Coordinator for Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Houston Methodist.
Farrar began her career as an academics coordinator at Baylor College of Medicine. When Anthony E. Brissett MD, FACS, was recruited to help launch Houston Methodist’s Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, he asked Farrar to join the team.
Andrea Farrar
“He saw something in me and asked if I wanted to work with patients,” Farrar said.
That was 20 years ago, and she’s been working with patients ever since.
“I am the patient’s contact person, basically their liaison, for all their needs,” Farrar said. “I do before and after photography, simulate the images and provide the patients with proposals for the work to be done. I’m there to calm their fears and deal with anything and everything that happens along the way.”
The division focuses on reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. Farrar is knowledgeable in both and able to explain the procedures in language the patients understand. “We even talk about the different physicians, their specialties and bedside manner – who they are physician-wise,” she said. “In the end, the patient will have the comfort to know, ‘Oh, I’m in the right place.”
Farrar also works closely with Fred Bressler, MD, FACS, who came to Houston Methodist after 30 years as a successful plastic and reconstructive surgeon in the community.
“Andrea is a trusted and valuable member of our team,” Dr. Bressler said. “She knows as much about what’s going on as anyone in the division.”
Dr. Brissett, who is also vice chair of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, said he trusts Farrar. “She’s the absolute best.”
The respect is mutual, Farrar said. “These doctors are very careful, very particular, very precise. They treat every patient as an individual, and every procedure is as individual as the patient.”
I do before and after photography, simulate the images and provide the patients with proposals for the work to be done. I’m there to calm their fears and deal with anything and everything that happens along the way.
Farrar recalls one patient who had been searching for a physician for a while and had seen most doctors in the area. “She came here, and the first thing she said was that she was finally comfortable with the doctor, how he explained what he was going to do and how he would do it.
“She had wanted a complete change, but the doctor said he would refine her ideas to make her feel better but not overdo anything,” Farrar said. “She’s happy with her outcome and has recommended us to family and friends and even to her sisters. That’s a real vote of confidence.”
Andrea and her husband Reji Farrar have a blended family of six children and three grandchildren. She said they are “foodies” and love to try new restaurants around town. On weekends they travel, ride bikes and swim. “I love any body of water — preferably blue.”
Farrar said her professional success is due to years of experience, her love of people and the division’s physicians who have served as mentors.
“I’ve learned from them,” she said. “They are really good teachers.”