Profiles

Eric Dobratz, MD

I decided that facial plastic surgery was the specialty that I wanted to practice in very early in medical school. During first year anatomy class, the face and neck anatomy was in my opinion the most intricate and interesting area to study. I sought out the opportunity to shadow facial plastic surgeons early in medical school and was intrigued by the fact that this craft required not only exacting surgical skill, but also a creative and artistic challenge. I made the decision to pursue facial plastic surgery my first year of medical school and never looked back. I have the ability to help make such a positive impact on my patient’s lives and every day presents a new challenge and I remain thankful every day for this opportunity.

One of the things that I enjoy most about practicing as a facial plastic surgeon are the times that I am able to remove a patient’s dressing, hand them a mirror and watch the excitement on their face when they see the changes that were made by surgery. I am thrilled to know that I am able to make immediate and life altering changes for my patients. Whether I am performing surgery to reconstruct a cleft lip on a young baby or to perform a cosmetic surgery to change a facial feature that has bothered a patient for some time, I know that the outcome will help to increase their self-confidence and self-esteem for years to come.