Gender Affirming Surgical Care

Esther A. Kim, M.D. is a native of California and a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Davis School of Medicine. She participated in basic science research throughout her years at UC Berkeley and winning a research grant she dedicated an extra year during her medical school studying pro-apoptotic molecules in cancer. After graduating from medical school in 2004, she pursued general surgery training at UNMC, graduating in 2009. Thereafter, she completed her Plastic Surgery Residency at the Mayo Clinic and a Microsurgery fellowship at UCSF. She joined the faculty in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in 2013.

Dr. Esther Kim specializes in cosmetic and complex reconstructive surgery. She is certified by the American Board of Surgery in general surgery and by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Her scope of practice includes surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures, microvascular complex breast reconstruction, and gender affirmation surgery. Dr. Kim's philosophy is to achieve natural-looking cosmetic and reconstructive results with meticulous attention to details. Combined with technical excellence, an artistic eye, and compassionate care, she individualizes each patient's needs and anatomic differences to achieve best outcome. As an academic plastic surgeon, she views one of her roles is to educate, inspire, and empower patients and others. Her research and publication endeavors focus on health care disparities and improvement in quality of life and surgical outcomes. She strives to balance a professional career, service to her community, and a role model to her three daughters. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, art, hiking and listening to podcasts with a good bottle of wine.