I grew up in Roswell, New Mexico (I know all about the aliens that landed there in 1947!). I graduated with honors as a Presidential Scholar from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I also earned my medical degree from the University of New Mexico. I trained for five years in general surgery residency at Texas Tech University. My plastic surgery fellowship training was completed at Indiana University. I performed seven years of acute burn care during my combined residencies. I joined Kaiser Permanente in 1992. I started the Craniofacial team and am currently serving as director of that program. I was also instrumental in bringing laser surgery, cosmetic surgery, wound VAC technology, and same-day surgery for skin cancers to Kaiser Permanente in Colorado. I led the team of surgeons and physicians who performed the first successful separation of conjoined twins in Colorado in 2001, and I served as chief of the Plastic Surgery department for six years.