Years ago while in medical school I recall one of our professors, a world- renowned orthopedic surgeon, telling us that a surgeon was just a physician with a craft. His implied message was clear: To be a good surgeon required being first and foremost being a good physician. My career has been a long road following that advice. Shortly after graduating from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, I emigrated from my native Canada to Arizona. For the following two decades I was a physician first and foremost.

As a board certified family practitioner and geriatrician, I attended to the medical needs of the older adults and the elderly residing in Sun City, Arizona. The medical problems experienced by this age group were more often both complex and challenging. I engaged in all aspects of patient care from the routine to the intensive care unit and everything in between.

However, increasing government interference in the practice of medicine and the advent of managed care in the late eighties and nineties severely curtailed my ability to deliver proper care to my patients. As I struggled to maintain my freedom and integrity as a family practitioner, I accidentally entered into the world of cosmetic surgery. Little did I know then that those rewarding years as a family doctor in Sun City would give me an unique perspective and firm foundation for what was to come next, my career as a cosmetic surgeon.

Starting first with the procedure of cosmetic skin resurfacing using a CO2 laser in 1996, I found a new way of being a physician that was not only enjoyable but also liberating. I pursued the craft of cosmetic surgery with enormous intensity. The years since have been filled with thousands of hours of training in cosmetic surgery: didactic courses, both live surgery and cadaver workshops, preceptorships with individual surgeons, text, video and journal study. I’m proud to say that I learned liposuction, eyelid surgery, facelift surgery, tummy tucks, breast surgery, breast augmentation, skin rejuvenation, etc. from some of the very best surgeons in this country and abroad. Three times I have received the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery’s Excellence in Cosmetic Surgery Education Award.

Seventeen years after picking up that CO2 laser for the first time I now have performed more than four thousand cosmetic surgery procedures with an impeccable safety record and high satisfaction rate. In fact, my best referral sources are those on whom I have previously operated. My facility is fully accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare (AAAHC).

In gratitude for the opportunity to do something I love to do, I give back to my specialty when and where I can. Previously I’ve served on the Safety Task Force of American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and currently I volunteer as an outside medical consultant in cosmetic surgery cases for the Arizona Medical Board.

The advantages of a cosmetic surgeon who was first a primary care physician becomes readily apparent when you are like many who desire a cosmetic procedure have diabetes, hypertension, a heart condition or some other chronic medical condition. Maybe you’re a bit older, heavier, undergoing a major life transition or just terribly anxious and embarrassed. No matter, my depth of experience caring for people in general and in cosmetic surgery in particular will see that you get the very best result possible with the least amount of problems.