A Surgeon and a Scholar

Dr. David Stoker

As any professional devoted to their field will tell you, it’s challenging to find time to achieve every career goal.  As a Los Angeles plastic surgeon, I find that to be especially true.

Of course, my first priorities are my patients.  Whether I’m consulting with a new patient, performing surgery or conducting a postoperative check up, the men and women I serve come before anything else.

Here in Southern California, other opportunities come my way partly because the area is such a media hotspot.  I’m often invited to make broadcast appearances on programs such as the Dr. Phil show, The Doctors and others, and to provide cosmetic surgery insights for newspapers and magazines.

But in one role that’s more important to me than many, I have the privilege of being part of the teaching faculty at the University of Southern California.  As a clinical assistant professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, I’m honored to teach the next generation of professionals in my field: young men and women headed to Philadelphia and Phoenix, Louisville and Los Angeles.  Plastic surgeons like these may discover effective yet less-invasive facelift techniques, pioneer new ways to banish stubborn fat and deliver other breakthroughs to benefit patients worldwide.

In all honesty, I learn from working with these prospective surgeons as much or more as they learn from me.  I get the chance to pass along techniques I’ve learned in my areas of specialty, like liposuction, breast augmentation and rhinoplasty.  What I get back is an inspiring perspective from an up-and-coming generation of surgeons.  Each time I’m in front of a group of young doctors, I take away new ideas and new viewpoints on cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.

I’m living proof of the saying: “You make time to do what you love.”

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