Dr. Maurice Sherman served 10 years as a Navy doctor and today is well known throughout Southern California as chief surgeon at the Del Mar Cosmetic Medical Center.  Military Press caught up with Dr. Sherman to learn more about his work with military personnel – both then and now. 

 
MP: No doubt you’ve handled many interesting military cases given your years of experience and connections. 
 
Dr.  Sherman:  Well we see many active military patients here at our Center.  But it doesn’t seem that long ago I was active military myself.    I’ll never forget a case while stationed at Pendleton (1978-81) serving as a staff surgeon. One of our officer’s wives – also pregnant at the time, developed a rare cancer of the larynx (voice box) which was cutting off her airway. Immediately after her baby was delivered, she recorded her voice for posterity. Then we had to remove her voice box to save her life, which was followed by radiation treatment causing additional complications.  I managed her care for an additional two years after that.
 
MP: You’re well known for your charitable work, including the National Domestic Violence Project and now we’re hearing of a new charitable program in the development stages for active military. Tell us about those.
 
Dr.Sherman: It’s a sad statistic, but more than five million are affected by domestic violence annually and more than a million of those require medical attention. In this particular program, victims of domestic violence are referred to myself and other members of the American Academy of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery for surgical services to repair disfigurements cause by these traumatic domestic events.
 
I’m also excited to be on a new organizing committee with some of my colleagues from the California Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (CACS). We’re in the planning stages for a new program called Military Outreach with a goal to provide active duty military and/or their immediate family members the opportunity to receive certain cosmetic surgery procedures on a goodwill basis. Our panel would discuss those applying with a demonstrated need and we would move forward from there. Our goal would be to absorb the costs of professional services (doctor and anesthesiologist fees and even implants if necessary). Only facility charges would be incurred. If any of your readers may know of a candidate, they should contact me at the Del Mar Cosmetic Center.
 
MP: In addition to charitable services, your Cosmetic Center offers other military offers.
 
Dr Sherman: Yes, we’re offering a 25% discount off for our active military and special pricing for military families. These discounts are illustrated on our website at www.DrSherman.com. Most of the time, requests are for body contouring procedures such as liposuction, because they need to fit certain standards.
 
For female active-duty military people we offer body contouring in the sense of tummy tucks after children, or perhaps breast enlargement procedures. And we have different types of facial plastic procedures also, such as rhinoplasty and eyelid surgery to, let’s say change the appearance of a nose that’s been bothersome for many, many years or is causing breathing problems. 
 
In addition, we offer some of the latest innovations in non-surgical treatment. So, whatever our military people are interested in, we’re going to try and provide them with the most modern and up-to-date answers.
 
MP: Folks want help dealing with military standard requirements?
 
Dr.Sherman: Absolutely. When I was in the military, we always had to deal with that and I don’t think too much has changed. If anything, it’s gotten a little stricter perhaps. Looking good in a uniform and meeting certain body measurements such as the waist size or thigh size is still very, very important. With today’s liposuction procedures, this can be done both painlessly and with the patient in an awake status so that there’s very minimal discomfort. Patients can return to a limited type of duty almost immediately.
 
Now, this is not, I need to mention, a weight loss type of program. Liposuction and body contouring procedures can make you look like you’ve lost some weight but in actuality the fat that we remove does not weigh that much. You still have to get into the exercise program and watch your diet.
 
MP: Your clinic is in Del Mar, but you really serve all of San Diego, correct?
 
Dr. Sherman: We’re near Highway 56 in Carmel Valley and I5, and we’re really easy on and off. So we are within 20 minutes of say downtown 32nd Street, as well as in the north Camp Pendleton. It’s about a 20-minute drive either way. And of course, east of Miramar, that area is also very, very accessible to our office.
 
MP: We noticed your YouTube channel with almost 6000 visitors. Are people trying to find cosmetic surgeons by first going online?
 
Dr. Sherman: Outside from Military Press, which certainly is effective, more and more people are using the Internet and social media, such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. It’s part of our culture now so yes, you’ll find our presence in those venues as well.
 
MP: Over the years, we’ve all seen major technological advances in cosmetic surgery. Should we assume over the next two or three years there will continue to be more exciting developments?
 
Dr. Sherman: That’s one of the reasons why I love to be here and I’m still very, very active. I had a chance to travel the world during my years with the Navy on active duty. We chose San Diego obviously for the weather, but also because of the fact that we could get into a cosmetic surgery practice that was very, very rewarding and we have continued to invest and are certainly very excited with all the newer technologies that are available, especially in the last five or six years. There’s been an abundance of newer things, newer treatments, perhaps some that are non-surgical but even some surgical improvements that continue to make this area of specialty extremely exciting to me.
 
MP: I’m sure we have readers seeing this and also perhaps some of on YouTube watching this that have been considering cosmetic surgery but maybe haven’t just yet taken that final step. To those folks watching or reading, what advice would you offer them?
 
Dr. Sherman: Start with a visit to our website at www.drsherman.com. We have lots of information on there and we’re adding more videos every day. And at times, we also have available a computer imaging system that we can utilize to show you, a realistic expectation of the after picture—not a guarantee, but a realistic expectation—of what we expect you to look like after the procedure.
 
Editors Note: See the entire interview with Dr. Maurice Sherman from the Del Mar Cosmetic Medical Center.
 
Del Mar Cosmetic Medical Center
12845 Pointe Del Mar Way
Del Mar, CA 92014
(858) 350-8400
www.drsherman.com

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