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Surgeons for Society


Some of the world’s top plastic surgeons are on a philanthropic mission. 

Charles Randquist

In his mid-20s, Swedish-born Dr Charles Randquist was training to be an anaesthesiologist. He read an article by a medical colleague about the closed Kingdom of Bhutan, where fortune was measured, not in monetary value, but in happiness, a country that at the time severely lacked technical medical equipment and modern medical training.   

He decided to embark on a philanthropic mission for a year, raising money and equipment for six trucks filled with medical equipment that he organised to drive from Calcutta to Bhutan. He stayed there for six weeks visiting remote villages and small hospitals. During his journey through the country he encountered young and old with burn scars.  

“Because the villages had open fires in their homes, there were a lot of burn injuries, especially small children who would fall into the fires,” he recalls over a phone interview from Columbia, where he is currently teaching.   

Charles Randquist teaching a disaster medicine masterclass in Thailand

He met a group of plastic surgeons at a small local clinic who were doing volunteer reconstructions. “At that point, at the age of 26, I decided this is what I wanted to do. I could change people’s lives with some smart incisions, reconstructing severe scarring that otherwise would cripple them for life.” 

At the time in the late 1980s, the reconstructive cranio facial, cleft palate and microsurgery industries were developing at breakneck speed, as was the aesthetic plastic surgery industry. After several years working in public and private practice, in 2000 Randquist set up his own clinic in the Stockholm archipelago at the seaside: Victoriakliniken, a 24-bed and three-operating-theatre hospital specialising in aesthetic plastic surgery: predominantly breast implants and rhino surgery. Since 2005, he has been offering master classes and training. Over the years he has trained some 1,600 surgeons. “My goal has always been to spread my knowledge to help others create a safer environment for both patients and plastic surgeons.”  

Throughout his career he would take time off to go and help with reconstructive surgery at disaster zones. In 2004 he journeyed to Thailand after the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which killed over 200,000 people. “The doctors there were performing surgery around the clock, they were exhausted. I went to Phuket to help; I was the only non-Thai doctor performing surgery.” Once again in 2008 when a big cyclone hit Myanmar, he volunteered his time to help, as well as teaching local surgeons and medical healthcare staff how to operate in these situations. More recently, he has been carrying out pro bono reconstructive surgery on victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) from African countries such as Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia where the practice is still rife. In his operations, he is able to bring full functionality and sensation back into the clitoris and labia.   

Charles Randquist operating

Turning 60 next year, having operated on over 15,000 patients, pro bono work is what drives Randquist forward. “At my age, it is no longer about money; time is my most important commodity,” he says. “These cases give so much emotional satisfaction. For those who would have been stigmatised because of burns, an accident, birth defects and so on, you can make their life so very different. It’s where I get my energy from.”  

Mindful of this need from people who cannot afford plastic surgery, a number of organisations have been connecting plastic surgeons to the needy. For example, Healing the Children, and the HUGS foundation, which connects surgeons with children born with cleft lips and palates and other facial irregularities in Vietnam, Guatemala and Ecuador. Another such charity is Operation Smile. Face to Face is a non-profit that provides pro bono consultations and surgery to those who have been disfigured by domestic violence. Each year, one-million women who experience domestic violence require medical attention for injuries. Dr Andrew A Jacono is a New York-based plastic surgeon who specialises in mini-facelifts, rhinoplasties and eyelid lifts, and he is a senior adviser for Face To Face. “Changing a face can change a life,” he says in an interview.  

He said his first realisation of the need for this type of work was knowing a third-grade school peer who had a cleft lip. It inspired him to become a doctor. “Before she had corrective surgery, no one would sit next to her on the bus,” he says. “After, everyone wanted to. I wanted to help people that way.” He has operated on those with cleft palates and the like, whose parents couldn’t afford the operation. “In the US, most of these kids would get surgery and lead normal happy lives,” he adds. “But in countries where even basic health care isn’t guaranteed, it can mean being socially rejected. Treatment offers a fresh start.”  

One of the children Louisa Ferguson operated on through Operation Smile

Like Jacono, Louisa Ferguson is a plastic surgeon who gets a real joy out of improving someone’s life journey. She specialises in congenital paediatric issues and cleft lip and palate surgery, and is based at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust. She has been involved with pro bono work since 2016, and internationally with Operation Smile since 2018. She recalls an operation that she carried out on a teenager in Malawi recently. 

“In some parts of the world there is still stigma attached to having an unrepaired cleft lip,” says Ferguson. “I saw a 14-year-old, a very articulate and bright young girl, who had never received formal education as she was sent home from her first day of school because she had an unrepaired cleft lip.  

“When I saw her, she told me all she wanted was to be able to go to school. With a fairly simple one-hour operation I was able to repair her cleft lip and when I saw her smile at herself in the mirror the next day it almost broke my heart. Part of me was sad she had had to wait so long to get treatment, but mostly I was so pleased to be part of someone’s journey, to help them live the life they want to live is a real pleasure and an honour. That’s why I do what I do.” 

 
This article originally appeared in Billionaire's Healing Issue, Winter 2022/23. To subscribe contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.