02/08/2026
69 years and an extraordinary legacy. A look at the grand finale of the — a meeting that shaped not just aesthetic surgery, but the surgeons who practice it.
In October of 2001, just one month after 9/11, I rotated at the Baker Stuzin practice as a resident from . Given Dr. Tom Baker had trained at UTMB, our amazing program chief traditionally sent residents there before chief year to gain advanced exposure to aesthetic surgery. That particular month that I rotated in Miami, the surgical schedule was understandably light. The country was grieving. There was uncertainty in the air.
So I spent my days with Dr. Stuzin studying facial anatomy as it relates to facelift surgery — not from a textbook, but through his meticulous surgical ex*****on and our discussion as he worked. In the evenings, I sat in their office library watching VHS 📼 recordings of prior Baker Gordon Symposium lectures. Giants in aesthetic surgery sharing ideas, debating technique, elevating the craft.
That month changed the trajectory of my career. It was there — in that practice, during that quiet and reflective time — I decided that I would pursue fellowship training in aesthetic plastic surgery.
Soon after, I set my sights on NYC and the — the first aesthetic surgery fellowship program in the country and still one of the most highly esteemed. The rest is history
📸 W/ Dr. Stuzin & at the grand finale
📸 W/ one of the most extraordinary surgeons in the world, Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez who is the chairman of . His cases are almost beyond what even the most experienced surgeon can comprehend. Dr. Rodriguez is the leader of the NYU facial transplant team which has led the world with firsts in full face composite transplant after devastating trauma and burn injuries. 💜
📸 W/ Dr. Holly Wall, who also is a bad ass surgeon and boy mom and an inspiration to female plastic surgeons. 👩🏻⚕️
📸 Finally a photo given to me by one of my sweet colleagues Saturday night of my co-chief residents and me, back on May 30, 2003 he tells me, at the end of our residency. 🥹
