Teaching the next generation of facial plastic surgeons falls to Dr. Andrew Jacono in his role as Fellowship Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, a position that lets him pass along more than surgical technique. Fellows training under him learn a career built around treating both paying patients and those who cannot pay at all.
Dr. Jacono’s own academic record includes an appointment at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his position as Section Head of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at North Shore University Hospital. Those roles give him a platform to teach medical students and residents about weaving humanitarian service into a surgical career rather than treating it as a separate hobby.
Lessons Drawn From Decades of Fieldwork
The philosophy he teaches comes from personal experience. Dr. Andrew Jacono has performed reconstructive surgery for more than 100 survivors of domestic violence through the FACE TO FACE project, where he serves as senior advisor, and has treated more than 750 children abroad for cleft lips, cleft palates, and other congenital facial conditions.
That fieldwork spans missions to Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, and Vietnam with organizations including Healing the Children and the HUGS Foundation, typically twice yearly, often bringing fellow surgeons or family members along.
A Model for Combining Skill and Service
His domestic charity work gained national attention through Facing Trauma, a documentary series that aired on Discovery Fit & Health and later the Oprah Winfrey Network, and earned him a 2006 Good Guy Award from the Center for the Women of New York along with a formal commendation from U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy in the Congressional Record.
Fellows who train under Dr. Jacono inherit a template built over decades, one that treats a Park Avenue practice and international volunteer missions as parts of the same career rather than competing priorities. He has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus to help fund the missions he now teaches others to continue. Refer to this article for related information.
Subscribe for more about Dr. Andrew Jacono on https://www.youtube.com/c/drandrewjacono