Meet Dr. S. Larry Schlesinger

Personal Statement

Attention to our appearance can be regarded as shallow, but I believe it is reality.

I love aesthetic plastic surgery because it is all about helping people reach their greatest potential. When someone is happy about the way they look, their outlook about everything is improved. When we are unhappy about an aspect of our bodies, rather than suffer daily, we compartmentalize those feelings and waste psychological energy suppressing this negativity.

I have worked on a burn unit, I have repaired cleft lips, I have done trauma surgery in the OR and ER, and I have done aesthetic plastic surgery. My personality and my aesthetic sense is best utilized, however, when I work with people who want to stop wasting energy feeling inadequate about their appearance, and instead spend that energy on friends and family.

Unlike general surgery, where the success of a procedure is more easily measured, aesthetic results are subjective and measured by the patient. It was Yogi Berra who said, “If you don’t know where you are going, chances are you won’t get there.” Nowhere in medicine is this statement truer than in aesthetic plastic surgery. To ensure the desired result, good aesthetic surgeons establish a relationship with their patients, inquire about goals and fears, and collaborate.

RealSelf is an amazing website which allows patients to evaluate surgeons on their pre and post operative photographs, their expertise in certain areas, and their humanness. It also allows surgeons to better understand patient objectives, and at times learn from other surgeons.

I am grateful to be practicing aesthetic plastic surgery in America, in Hawaii, in a period where aesthetic plastic surgery has transitioned from a secretive privilege for the wealthy to being available to all of us.

Education & Societies

A native of Detroit, S. Larry Schlesinger, MD, FACS took his premedical studies at the University of Michigan and medical studies at the Medical College of Virginia, where he was the highest honor graduate. He served his surgical residency at Stanford University Medical Center and his plastic surgery residence at Oklahoma Health Science Center, where he is a visiting professor of surgery.

Dr. Schlesinger is a member of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, a group of the most dedicated board-certified surgeons specializing in cosmetic surgery, and is also a Diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and an Active Member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). To be an active member of ASPS, S. Larry Schlesinger, MD, FACS had to have completed four years of medical school, three years of clinical training in general surgery, a residency of at least two years in an accredited plastic surgery hospital program, taken and passed intensive board exams, and have passed the scrutiny of his peers.