Day in the Life: Norman Leaf
Each spring, the Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association sponsors the Day in the Life Program, which gives current medical students the opportunity to shadow Pritzker alumni in their professional lives during spring break. If you would like to participate in the Day in the Life Program or for more information about other student-alumni programs, please visit the Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association.
By Karl Balch, MS 2
Norman Leaf, MD ‘66
“Good plastic surgery is invisible. If I have done my job right, you’ll never know I was there.” This was my introduction to the world of plastics as a part of the Day in the Life program. I spent my spring break shadowing Dr. Norman Leaf, a cosmetic Plastic Surgeon with a busy private practice in Beverly Hills. I was excited to return home to Southern California and gain insight into a specialty famous for appearance versus reality. With such strong stereotypes about plastic surgeons in Los Angeles, I was curious to peel back the superficial layers and see the deeper true face of plastics beneath the surface.
Dr. Leaf is part surgeon, part clinician, and part businessman. His office, a large sunny room adorned with antique maps of nautical cartographers, was the backdrop as he explained some of the nuances of his field, including an understanding of body dysmorphic disorder (distorted self-image). Later in the week, I was able to see this concept in action. A beautiful older woman came into clinic seeking to have a platysmaplasty (surgery to remove a droopy neck). Despite her concern, she had no real visible excess skin and actually had a very slender neck. Dr. Leaf persuaded her that platysmaplasty was excessive for her features and eventually joked that she should “Come see him in about 10-15 years.” Realizing surgery is not always the right choice for his patients inspired Dr. Leaf to expand his practice to include an active skin care clinic and laser treatment room. Dr. Leaf now has a full time staff running these interconnected clinics. He has since launched his own product line of skin care products and is active in promoting the growth of his business internationally.
In the operating room I was able to observe the sculptural work of rhinoplasty (nose jobs), superficial layer manipulation of upper and lower blepharoplasty (eye lifts), and the shifting of fat and facial layers in partial face lifts. There has been a recent revolution in facial work that most of the manipulation now occurs on the deeper fascial layers and the skin is redraped with little stretching. This differs markedly from the skin stretching of the past for facial lifts. I was able to see this applied in a couple patients with impressive results. Dr. Leaf would slowly peel back the most superficial layer being cautious to avoid critical points of facial innervation and use a bovee (electrical surgical knife) to close off vessels. Hiding the cuts in the hairline and the fold of the ear works to mask the incisions to make them “invisible.” I saw these techniques applied to patients who had sought out Dr .Leaf to look younger but I also saw him correct a unilateral facial droop caused by an acoustic neuroma.
My week back in southern California was exciting, it gave me an opportunity to see my family and visit with old friends. I went in with an open mind and found a specialty that I had never seriously considered, to now be interesting enough to explore as a possible career. It was nice to see that behind all the hype and stereotypes of plastic surgeons I found a hard-working man, with a sharp mind, and an excellent business sense.
