My journey in rhinoplasty began in 1983 when I was completing my last year of medical school and still unsure of the direction I would take as a physician.  Merely by chance, Jack Sheen, M.D. the father of modern rhinoplasty, lectured on this topic during my senior year at Washington University School of Medicine.  Medical students know very little about rhinoplasty so when I saw his before and after photos, I was astounded.  This operation had the ability to take average looking people and transform them into beautiful faces.  It was incredible, and one of the most remarkable experiences in my four years of medical school.  I did not know it at the time, but this was the beginning of one of my life’s greatest passions that would shape many major decisions I would make in the upcoming years.  I also never dreamed 20 years later, living in Virginia Beach,  I would co-author a major rhinoplasty textbook with Dr. Sheen.  

After my prerequisite general surgery training, I began my first residency in Ear, Nose and Throat medicine in January 1985.  The first opportunity I had, I flew to Birmingham, Alabama in 1986 to attend an exclusive Rhinoplasty Symposium encompassing days of detailed rhinoplasty specific discussion.  It was there that I realized this was an extremely complex operation that would take many years to learn.  My residency would provide the baseline skills, but to really excel in this specialty would mean acquiring more that just basic training.  I would need much further education aside from the normal residency training and I would need to repeatedly travel to targeted rhinoplasty meetings to hear directly from world experts.  None of the textbooks for years to come were up to date.  The 1980s brought about many more valuable techniques beyond the ideas of Jack Sheen.  Hundreds of surgical maneuvers would have to be mastered since there were so many shapes, sizes, and types of noses.  After five years of Ear, Nose and Throat training, I decided to complete another residency; three years of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery during which time I continued to educate myself by attending rhinoplasty meetings.  I heard many world experts speak on the subject and surprisingly, they were changing their course of action.  Evolving structural techniques brought about much more predictable and natural results with better breathing functions than they had in the previous 50 years.  State-of-the-art surgeons were abandoning older more aggressive maneuvers that removed too much of the nasal structure, leaving the nose poorly supported and unnatural looking.  With so many valuable techniques it was finally possible to 1) Treat every nose as unique and perform only those maneuvers that were appropriate, safe and predictable, 2) Make the nose naturally appeared as if it had never been operated on before, and 3) Attempt to maintain and potentially improve every patient’s breathing ability.

After my plastic surgery residency, I decided to devote another year of training specifically to cosmetic surgery.  I was given the opportunity for a surgical fellowship with part of the time spent at Eastern Virginia Medical Center in Norfolk Virginia and the other part with the National Health Service at Wexham Park Hospital near London.  Taking a position of senior registrar at the latter allowed me to perform a considerable number of rhinoplasties and gain even more valuable experience as the actual surgeon.  Prior to returning to the states I was able to visit a plastic surgeon in Russia who I had previously met in Norfolk Virginia.  We performed many rhinoplasties together at his hospital in Yaroslavl. 

After completing this intense course of training, I could not have been more fortunate in my search for a career in plastic surgery.  In September 1993, I joined Richard Mladick, M.D. in Virginia Beach.  Not only did he have a large cosmetic surgery practice but he believed in my training and passion for rhinoplasty and was willing to promote my skills.  Experience came quickly.  My yearly attendance at rhinoplasty symposiums continued.  It was extremely valuable to repeatedly attend the renowned Dallas Rhinoplasty Symposium, where some of the most talented and technically gifted surgeons gathered yearly. Eventually I was asked to join the faculty and teaching program in 1999.  This was an incredible opportunity to mix with some of the most respected rhinoplasty surgeons of the twentieth century, including Jack Gunner, M.D., Rod Rohrich, M.D., and Steve Byrd, M.D.    I was especially honored to be included with Jack Sheen, M.D. himself, another member of the faculty team.  Through my teaching discussions with students and this caliper of faculty, my knowledge and training were further solidified.  These associations also led to further rewards.   I was requested to write several chapters in the upcoming textbook, “Dallas Rhinoplasty, Nasal Surgery by The Masters”.  This led to the honor of lecturing on rhinoplasty techniques at the Aesthetic Society of Plastic Surgeons National Meeting.  Further opportunities to author chapters and journal articles followed over the years. In 2006, my publications and teaching experience was sufficient to be offered membership in The Rhinoplasty Society.  This was a huge honor but more importantly it was another opportunity to associate and learn with other surgeons committed to excellence in cosmetic nose surgery.  Only with persistence and hard work can this procedure be mastered to bring about the ultimate reward: happiness and gratification with patients. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing”.  Work worth doing in rhinoplasty is happy satisfied patients.  Rhinoplasty is one prize life has offered to me.  Mastering the art and science of rhinoplasty continues to be my passion, even after 20 years performing it. 

Now that I have shared my motivation for my work as a surgeon, let me share my other interests in life.  Just as my true passion in medicine is rhinoplasty, my true passion in life is my family.  I grew up in Central Illinois, one of nine children, so family life came naturally to me. After attending the University of Notre Dame, Washington University School of Medicine and completing my extended training, I married my soul mate and best friend Suzanne in Virginia Beach.  We have a son Nick and a daughter Natalie that have stolen our hearts and greatly enriched our lives.  As a family, we enjoy traveling and playing sports together.

Another interest in my life that grew from my years of training is to use my medical and surgical skills to help those less fortunate.  I participated in volunteer reconstructive surgery trips to South America, Central America, the Philippines, Central Asia and the Caribbean with Christian Medical Society, Operation Blessing and Operation Smile. It was such a great reward to see the reconstructed smile of a child and the relief of a parent in need.  After witnessing the conditions of medicine in these third world countries, I thought there must be more that I could do to help.  In 1994, I founded the non-profit organization Medical Supply Rescue and Recycle (MSRR) which collects excess surgical supplies and used equipment from area hospitals to send overseas.  The US Ambassador recognized the company in 1998 for donating supplies to the country of Sierra Leon in West Africa.  In 2002, MSRR began a new program that purchases new surgical instruments to send to surgeons in impoverished countries who routinely must work with inadequate equipment.  Due to my family and medical obligations, I am unable to travel and operate as much as I would like, therefore I donate a portion of my patient's surgeon's fee to purchasing instruments. It is easy to find passion for this type of work knowing that just a little extra effort on our part can make such a huge difference to a third world medical community and their patients.