The Directory of Black Women Physicians

Dr. LaDawn Talbott’s career path isn’t like those of conventional Reno plastic surgeons. From model to mother to plastic surgeon, and now a grandmother, Dr. Talbott has fulfilled her lifelong ambitions and dreams. After winning a model search at the age of 15, she traveled to New York as a high fashion runway model working with agencies, such as Wilhelmina and Ford Models.

Her interest in the sciences, however, won out over her love for the runway. She graduated from high school third in her class with four different academic awards. She was one of two students selected to receive a research scholarship from the National Science Foundation while attending college at the University of Texas at Dallas. She also assisted in the cloning and sequences of genes that become active in cancer cells, presenting her findings at a national conference in Washington, DC.

Dr. Talbott received her medical degree from the University of Texas at Houston and completed her general surgery residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. There she was honored with a research award for linking hernia development to genetic markers. She completed her plastic surgery residency at the Medical University of South Carolina. It was there that she received extensive training and various awards in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. From there she worked her way to becoming one of the top Reno plastic surgeons around.

In an interview with Reno Magazine, Dr. Talbott said, “I’m an artist, but I’m also a scientist. One of the things I love about plastic surgery is that you never have the same operation twice, because no two patients are alike; you have to tailor the operation to the person’s needs in a very artistic way.”