We are delighted that the American Society of Plastic Surgeons is recognizing the diversity of perspectives and experiences that patients and future surgeons bring into practice. This month, PSTM22 in Boston will host a panel to discuss the challenges and future of surgeons who are Underrepresented In Medicine. The Garnes Society is proud to present Dr. Ferdinand Ofodile and Dr. Paris Butler.
This event offers a rare opportunity to hear two exceptional leaders speak on overcoming barriers and the most promising paths forward.
Dr. Ferdinand Ofodile entered his plastic surgery residency at Harlem Hospital Center/Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. This was momentous. Dr. Garnes had just been appointed the first Black American Director of a Plastic Surgery training program in the U.S., overseeing the Harlem Hospital program. Surgeons in training of all races and underserved members of the community found excellence under Dr. Garnes’s leadership.
Dr. Ofodile’s career would span oceans and generations, starting with surgical and public health work in Nigeria. He would serve as the Head of the Plastic Surgery Unit at the University College Hospital of Ibadan, Nigeria. This period would include a series of publications that covered topics as varied as genital trauma or brain heterotopia observed in the tongue.
Harlem Hospital appealed to Dr. Ofodile, and in 1982 he returned to accept the Chief of Plastic Surgery appointment. As his career progressed at Harlem Hospital, he held posts as the Program Director of Plastic Surgery, Associate Director of Surgery, and eventually the Harlem Hospital Center Site Director.
He served as an Attending in Plastic Surgery at North General Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital of New York. He was also a Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for 17 years, and is still a Clinical Professor Emeritus and Special Lecturer.
In tandem with clinical practice and program duties in the United States, Dr. Ofodile would continue his international work. He held visiting professorships at 5 universities in Nigeria, and medical mission trips reached the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mozambique, and Nigeria. He took an interest in renewing public health networks in rural Nigeria to support a fragmented healthcare system, leveraging community health workers, community based networks, and renewing infrastructure of the General Hospital to create flexible and sustainable access-to-care.
He also recognized the gaps in research and deficiencies in the services plastic surgery offered to Black patients. Dr. Ofodile’s ongoing research included breast flaps, skin lesions, genital trauma, keloid management, maxillofacial surgery, and several years of analysis of the nasal bridge in Black patients. Dr. Ofodile developed an implant for rhinoplasty in Black patients, called the Ofodile Nasal Implant that is widely used.
Dr. Ofodile has been honored by many organizations for his dedication and service to plastic surgery as a profession. The Garnes Society thanks him for continuing Dr. Garnes’s legacy and speaking on behalf of future surgeons.
Dr. Paris Butler will join Dr. Ofodile on the panel. He is currently in surgical practice at Yale as an Associate Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery. He was also named as the Department of Surgery Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
A co-founder of the Garnes Society, Dr. Butler has committed his personal and professional life to breaking down barriers to advance plastic surgery.
Dr. Butler graduated medical School from the University of Virginia, where he completed a general surgery residency. He also holds a Master’s in Public Health and certificate in minority health from the University of California-Berkeley and he also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Stanford University where he studied keloid biology. The University of Pennsylvania was home during his plastic surgery training and he subsequently served as Assistant Professor of Surgery for six years. In addition to clinical duties, he also functioned as the Associate Designated Institutional Official of Underrepresented in Medicine Affairs in UPenn’s GME office.
Dr. Butler’s interest in advancing Underrepresented in Medicine concerns has taken a methodical and strategic approach. His clinical interests include aesthetics, breast procedures, post-bariatric contouring, wound and keloid management. His research interest are wide-ranging and include topics from keloid protein structure to penile repair– but a significant portion of his research work is geared toward understanding how underrepresented patients and practitioners experience the institution of medicine.
Dr. Butler’s research embodies a critical and thoughtful approach to training future surgeons. He has looked at diversity in training pipelines, the experience of women, and anti-racist measure in plastic surgery. Patient outcomes are also a focus. Post-bariatric procedures, recovery from breast surgery, and disparities observed in insurance coverage for reconstructive procedures and breast reconstruction outcomes are all questions he has explored.
He has received numerous teaching awards in addition to recognition for his work with mentoring residents, medical, undergraduate, and high school students aspiring to enter the field. Dr. Butler has authored over 75 publications in peer-reviewed journals and the lay press. He serves on the American College of Surgeons’ (ACS) Committee on Healthcare Disparities, Society of Black Academic Surgeons’ (SBAS) Membership, Financial, and Health Equity Committees, the American Board of Surgery’s (ABS) Governance Committee, the Association of Academic Surgeons’ (AAS) Diversity Committee, the American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons’ (ACAPS) DEI Committee, and is Chair of the American Society of Plastic Surgery’s (ASPS) Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Dr. Ofodile and Dr. Butler represent the best of plastic surgery. Their careers are rich with a determination to give patients access to life-changing care and well-being. They have compassion for the underserved and a determination to ensure that upcoming generations have role models and opportunities on their journey.
Garnes Society is very proud to introduce them at the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion panel for PSTM22, and we thank them for their work and willingness to share their time and wisdom.
