John M. Hilinski, MD

John M. Hilinski, MD, is a facial plastic surgeon who founded and owns his private practice in San Diego, which he has directed since 2005. He is also the founder and medical director of the Hilinski Ambulatory Surgery Center, which he has owned and directed since 2010. He has been a staff surgeon at Scripps Mercy Hospital since 2014. Previously he was a staff surgeon at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla from 2002 to 2013 and at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego from 2005 to 2008, and he currently holds a staff surgeon role at Scripps Clinic. In 2010 he co-founded The Hilinski Foundation for Surgery, and since 2015 he has been co-founder and chief medical officer of SurgLogs, Inc., a software company for surgery center compliance.

His core work is rhinoplasty, including revision, ethnic and teen cases. Patients often come to him for shape refinement or for concerns about breathing or trauma, and revision rhinoplasty can involve rib grafting. He also performs facelifts, eyelid surgery, and otoplasty with macrotia reduction. He handles complex reconstruction of the face, head and neck, including nasal reconstruction after skin cancer. His clinical interests include long-lasting fillers and volumetric facial contouring, and he provides injectable filler treatments at Hilinski Medspa. He has developed an extensive Rhinoplasty Tutorial with educational pages on rhinoplasty techniques.

He has taught as a clinical instructor at UCSD Medical Center and the VA Medical Center in La Jolla from 2002 to 2010, and at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine from 2001 to 2002. He has also been a Grand Rounds instructor in plastic surgery at UCSD School of Medicine. He has been a retained medical-legal expert since 2003 and served as facial plastic surgeon for the San Diego Chargers from 2005 to 2017. From 2008 to 2009 he took part in the FulFil Lip EIFFEL Study as an FDA clinical trial investigator. His publications include journal articles, book chapters and rhinoplasty chapters in the Emedicine World Medical Library, and he presents at national surgical conferences. He received the Chairman's Award from the UCSD Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery for 2000 to 2001. Patients travel to him from San Diego, other parts of the country and abroad, and virtual consultations are available for out-of-town patients. The site describes him as a recognized authority on rhinoplasty, and the practice says he is a Castle Connolly Top Doctor.