Dr. Teri Moak | Birmingham Plastic Surgeon

Dr. Teri Moak, board-certified plastic surgeon in Birmingham, Alabama

Meet Dr. Teri N. Moak

Dr. Teri N. Moak is a board-certified, fellowship-trained plastic surgeon at Core Plastic Surgery in Birmingham, Alabama. She performs aesthetic surgery of the face, breast, and body, with particular interests in facial rejuvenation and complex breast surgery.

For Dr. Moak, a consultation begins with understanding the person sitting across from her. She wants to know what you hope to change, what matters to you about that change, and what you need to feel comfortable making a decision. Her role is to explain your options honestly, including whether surgery is appropriate at all.

That approach carries through every part of her care. She takes time with the details, discusses the tradeoffs, and works toward results that respect the features that make you uniquely beautiful.

“I see my role first and foremost as an educator.”

— Dr. Teri Moak

A Longstanding Connection to Core Plastic Surgery

Dr. Moak has known Dr. Grady Core since she was twelve years old. Long before she entered medical school, she told him she intended to become a plastic surgeon.

Over the years, that childhood ambition became a professional relationship. Dr. Core wrote a recommendation for her plastic surgery residency application. Later, her residency program wrote to him on her behalf when she applied for his aesthetic surgery fellowship.

She has learned from him as a mentor, worked with him in the operating room, and trained under him as a fellow. Joining Core Plastic Surgery brings that relationship into a new chapter, with the opportunity to practice alongside someone who has supported her throughout much of her life.

For Dr. Moak, coming to Core feels like coming home.

Education and Surgical Training

Dr. Moak’s path to medicine included studies in physics, biochemistry, and physical therapy before medical school. That varied background reflects a longstanding interest in how the body works and how scientific knowledge can be applied to patient care.

Her education and training include:

Undergraduate education: Bachelor of Arts degrees in Physics and Biochemistry, University of Mississippi.
Graduate education: Master of Science in Biological Sciences, Mississippi College.
Additional studies: Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Mississippi and Physical Therapy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Medical school: Doctor of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Residency: Integrated Plastic Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Fellowship: Aesthetic Plastic Surgery with Dr. Grady Core in Birmingham, through an Aesthetic Society–endorsed fellowship.

Dr. Moak is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Teri Moak in her white coat holding a stethoscope

Where Art and Medicine Meet

During medical school, Dr. Moak attended a presentation by plastic surgeon Dr. Barbara Honnebier on pediatric craniofacial surgery and cleft lip and palate reconstruction. It helped her see how anatomy, technical skill, and creativity could come together to change a patient’s life.

The connection felt familiar. Dr. Moak has always enjoyed drawing and painting, and she plays both piano and guitar. Plastic surgery offered a way to bring that creative perspective into medicine.

Today, she applies that perspective by studying each patient’s proportions and the small anatomical differences that influence surgical planning. Her aim is to make changes that belong naturally to the person she is treating.

Areas of Focus

Facial Rejuvenation

Dr. Moak’s practice includes endoscopic brow and midface lifting, deep plane face and neck lifting, and other facial rejuvenation procedures.

She finds facial surgery particularly rewarding because the decisions are so individual. The position of the brow, the shape of the cheeks, and the relationship between the face and neck all contribute to how someone looks. A surgical plan needs to account for those relationships while preserving the patient’s expression and identity.

Breast Surgery

Complex breast surgery is another area of particular interest. Differences in breast shape, tissue quality, symmetry, or previous surgical changes can substantially influence the plan.

Dr. Moak approaches these cases by studying each patient individually and considering how her approach can best serve the patient’s overall proportions. She enjoys the careful problem-solving involved in developing a plan for anatomy that does not fit a standard approach.

Body Procedures

Dr. Moak also performs aesthetic body surgery. As with her facial and breast work, planning begins with the patient’s anatomy, goals, and understanding of the recovery involved.

She helps patients consider which changes are achievable and how the proposed treatment fits their health, daily responsibilities, and priorities.

A Consultation Built Around Listening

Before discussing an operation, Dr. Moak wants to understand what you see when you look in the mirror. Sometimes a concern is easy to describe. Other times, it takes a longer conversation to explain what feels different or what you hope to achieve.

She gives that conversation room.

Once she understands your goals, she explains the available options and their limitations. The discussion includes what treatment would involve, the expected recovery, the risks and possible complications, and what kind of improvement is realistic.

There is room to ask questions, reconsider, or decide that treatment is not right for you. Her goal is for you to understand your choices well enough to make a decision that feels right for your body.

Her Aesthetic Philosophy

Dr. Moak describes her approach as “airbrushing”: making considered refinements while preserving the features a patient already values.

That might mean addressing an area that has changed with age or improving a concern someone has carried for years. In either case, she wants the result to feel consistent with the patient’s own appearance and preferences.

Her attention to detail is central to that work. Small differences in contour, position, and symmetry matter to her because they contribute to the overall result. She takes those decisions seriously, from the initial plan through the operation itself.

A successful outcome, in her view, should look natural and remain something the patient appreciates as time passes.

Support Through Recovery

Dr. Moak wants patients to feel comfortable bringing questions and concerns to her throughout recovery. She understands that healing can include uncertainty, even when a procedure is progressing as expected.

Her commitment includes helping patients understand those changes and addressing complications or unexpected concerns when they arise. She wants patients to feel supported through difficult moments as well as pleased with their progress.

The standard she sets for herself is personal: provide the care she would want for a member of her own family.

Research and Contributions to Plastic Surgery

Dr. Moak’s professional work includes research, medical writing, and peer review for scientific journals. Her publications address both surgical outcomes and the experiences of people working within the specialty.

Selected contributions include:

Assessing Clinical Outcomes in Autologous Fat Grafting: A Current Literature Review, published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal in 2021.
The Leaky Pipeline of Women in Plastic Surgery: Embracing Diversity to Close the Gender Disparity Gap, published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal in 2020.
Clinical Experience of Poly-L-Lactic Acid Injections for Body Contouring Treatment, published in Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology in 2021.

Professional Involvement

Her professional affiliations include The Aesthetic Society, the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and the Southeastern Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. Her involvement with The Aesthetic Society has included its Inclusion and Diversity Committee and Women Aesthetic Surgeons Committee.

Selected Honors

Dr. Moak’s recognitions include an Awards for Publication Excellence (APEX) Grand Award, a James Barrett Brown Research Day award at Washington University, and a patient safety and quality improvement poster award from the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Department of Surgery.

At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, she received Honors in Research, the White Coat Award, and the Integrity and Excellence Award.

Outside the Operating Room

Time with the people she loves is a priority for Dr. Moak. She enjoys an evening of good conversation around the dinner table as much as the chance to travel somewhere unfamiliar.

Travel gives her opportunities to experience other cultures, meet people, and learn about different parts of the world. Closer to home, she enjoys yoga, health and fitness, and her creative interests in art and music.

Those relationships and interests are an important part of her life alongside medicine.

Schedule a Consultation With Dr. Moak

You do not need to arrive with a procedure already chosen. A consultation with Dr. Moak is an opportunity to discuss what you are considering, understand your options, and decide whether treatment makes sense for you.

Contact Core Plastic Surgery in Birmingham, AL, to schedule your appointment.

Schedule a Consultation With Dr. Moak

Become A Patient Today

We are happy to answer any questions you may have and get you on your way to beautiful, natural-looking results. Contact us.

3595 Grandview Parkway, #150, Birmingham, AL 35243

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(205) 397-2100

Meet Dr. Teri Moak

Meet Dr. Teri N. Moak

A Longstanding Connection to Core Plastic Surgery

Education and Surgical Training

Where Art and Medicine Meet

Areas of Focus

Facial Rejuvenation

Breast Surgery

Body Procedures

A Consultation Built Around Listening

Her Aesthetic Philosophy

Support Through Recovery

Research and Contributions to Plastic Surgery

Professional Involvement

Selected Honors

Outside the Operating Room

Schedule a Consultation With Dr. Moak

Become A Patient Today