Dr. John Hilinski

Based in San Diego, Dr. John Hilinski is a board-certified facial plastic surgeon. He founded the private practice John Hilinski M.D. Plastic Surgery, where he serves as medical director, and he owned and directed it from 2005, bringing more than 25 years of facial plastic surgery experience. He also leads Hilinski Medspa and oversees every procedure performed there. He is a staff surgeon at Scripps Mercy Hospital, a role held since 2014, and he has previously been a staff surgeon at Scripps Clinic. Since 2010 he has served as medical director of the Hilinski Ambulatory Surgery Center. He co-founded SurgLogs, Inc., a company that makes compliance software for surgery centers, and he serves as its chief medical officer.

He earned a medical degree from Harvard Medical School after completing a biological sciences degree at San Diego State University. Training included a general surgery internship at the UCSD Medical Center and the VA Medical Center, followed by a head and neck surgery residency and a chief residency at UCSD Medical Center. He then completed a facial plastic and reconstructive surgery fellowship at the University of Illinois, Chicago, under Dean M. Toriumi, sponsored by the AAFPRS. He is double board certified in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and in Head and Neck Surgery, and he sits on the Medical Board of California's Expert Reviewer Program for facial plastic and reconstructive surgery.

His practice centers on the face and neck. Rhinoplasty is a major focus, including revision, preservation, piezo and ethnic techniques, and complex revision cases. He also performs facelifts, eyelid surgery, brow lifts, otoplasty, ear reconstruction and correction of congenital ear deformities. His clinical interests include nasal reconstruction after skin cancer, facial reconstruction, scar revision, and long-lasting fillers such as Sculptra and Bellafill. Facial rejuvenation with injectables and fillers is offered at Hilinski Medspa, and he practices both cosmetic and reconstructive facial, head and neck surgery.

He has been a Clinical Instructor at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine and a Grand Rounds Instructor at UCSD School of Medicine. He has published journal articles and book chapters, including rhinoplasty chapters in the Emedicine World Medical Library, and he is invited to speak at national and international surgical conferences. He belongs to The Rhinoplasty Society, the California Society of Facial Plastic Surgery, the AAFPRS and the AAO-HNS. He previously served as facial plastic surgeon for the San Diego Chargers from 2005 to 2017. The practice describes him as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor.