Bernard G Sarnat: 20th Century Plastic Surgeon and Biological Scientist is the story of not only a successful physician-scientist, but also a warm and caring individual who is dedicated to his family, as revealed by the many personal details in this biography. Thus, this biography is intended not just for researchers in the biology of bone and teeth, but also for medical and dental students as well the general reader interested in science and medicine.

Contents:

• Background
• Tsarist Russia
• The Pale of Settlement
• The Napoleonic Wars
• Initiation of Pogroms
• Jewish Emigration
• The Bolshevik Revolution
• Immigration to the United States
• A New Century
• Roots in Belarus
• Emigration to Chicago
• Retail Store to Drugstores
• Elementary Lessons Growing Up in Chicago
• Boy Scouts and High School
• Undergraduate School Years (1929–1933)
• On to Medical School and Beyond (1933–1937)
• University of Illinois (1937–1940)
• Marriage to Rhoda Gerard
• Basic Training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (1940–1946)
• Life in St Louis and Chicago (1943–1955)
• Practice of Plastic Surgery (1946–1956)
• Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Plastic Surgery (1946–1956)
• The Move to California (1955)
• Personal Life in Beverly Hills
• Foreign Travel
• A Very Close Brush with Death (1961)
• Private Practice in Beverly Hills (1956–1991)
• Academia and Research
• A Day in the Life of a Plastic Surgeon
• A Day in the Life of a Biological Scientist
• A Career as Plastic Surgeon and Researcher
• Chapter Notes
• Chronology
• Conferred Honors

“The story of the Sarnat and Gerard families is the story of America. Almost immediately, these two bands of immigrants — in a strange land, but armed with brains and character — became huge contributors to the well-being of their adopted country. This book lets you walk their path, as Bernie Sarnat rises to the top of his profession. Bernie has not only helped thousands of patients to regain a positive self-image and to function better in society, but he has also taught countless students how to be better doctors, thereby multiplying the benefits to society that flow from his talents.”

“Dr Bernard Sarnat (Bernie) has sparkled all his life, bringing a glow of living to everyone he has touched. As a surgeon-scientist grounded in medicine, dentistry, general surgery and plastic surgery, Bernie has been an outstanding faculty teacher in medical schools and dental schools in Chicago, St Louis and Los Angeles.

During his career, Dr Sarnat has been recognized as a caring, skillful and compassionate plastic surgeon. He has been well described as the “Dean of Plastic Surgery” by his Los Angeles colleague, Harvey Zarem, MD, formerly Chairman of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the UCLA School of Medicine. It has been a privilege for me to share my surgical life with Bernie for over half a century.”

“As a student, I can vividly recollect my study of Bernie's classical textbook, The Temporomandibular Joint, in 1956 that lit my curiosity for craniofacial biology. To have been appointed as a distinguished Bernard G Sarnat Lecturer in Craniofacial Bone Biology 50 years later was an unimaginable honor that exalted my esteem of his accomplishments.

He has distinguished himself by his unbounded curiosity, unparalleled scholarship, inspirational leadership, modesty and humanity. Bernie's achievements and published works, honored by numerous awards and appointments, are broad and will be lastingly influential. He is a scholar's scholar. His combination of knowledge, vision and generosity is epitomized in this biography.”