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| Professor Bruce M. Achauer, MD |
Plastic-Surgery v1-5-Bruce-Achauer
IN MEMORIAM
Bruce M. Achauer, M.D.
Professor of Surgery
Irvine
1943-2002
Born in the small town of Warrensburg, Missouri, Bruce Achauer rose to the top of his profession, becoming renowned worldwide as a brilliant surgeon, superb educator and exceptional researcher—all accomplished while continuing a full-time clinical practice in plastic and reconstructive surgery. No doubt influenced by working in his father’s pharmacy, at age 13 Dr. Achauer decided on a career in medicine. After undergraduate education at Stanford University, he obtained his medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston in 1967. He applied successfully for the highly competitive rotating internship at San Francisco General Hospital, and then came to the University of California Irvine to complete residencies in general and plastic surgery between 1970 and 1976. To round out his clinical training, he traveled to the Queen Victoria Hospital in Sussex, United Kingdom as a Marks Fellow in Plastic Surgery. During the tumultuous years of the Vietnam conflict, Dr. Achauer served as a captain and flight surgeon in the United States Air Force based at the School of Aerospace Medicine in San Antonio between 1968 and 1970. On return from England, he was certified by both the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery and was appointed assistant professor of surgery at UC Irvine in 1977. He was promoted to adjunct professor in 1994, a position he held until his untimely death.The milestones in his life, distinguished as they are, do not reveal the enormous impact Bruce Achauer had on the lives of his patients, fellow practitioners and family. His professional devotion was to reconstructive surgery and the Burn Unit at the UCI Medical Center. There he achieved well-deserved national acclaim for his treatment of a 6-year-old badly burned in a motel fire in 1983 and a teenage girl who had been burned severely with acid in 1984. He performed reconstructive surgery on countless numbers of burned patients at UCI Medical Center, and at the same time was widely considered a master of aesthetic plastic surgery. Dr. Achauer also had steady research support for 21 years with half a dozen active projects at the time of his death. He studied the use of cyclosporin in the prolongation of allografts, and developed non-invasive methods to accurately assess the depth of the burn wound. His curriculum vitae listed 151 peer-reviewed articles and 48 book chapters. Dr. Achauer edited and wrote four major textbooks in plastic surgery with the most recent five-volume text described as the “comprehensive bible of plastic surgery.” Dr. Achauer’s service to the University was unstinting, including work on most of the Hospital Committees. He was an administrative officer of the California Society of Plastic Surgeons and medical advisor to the Orange County Burn Association. Perhaps his most important service to the University was acting chief of the Plastic Surgery Division some four years ago during which time the Division began reorganization. International recognition came through many visiting professorships at universities in Ireland, Finland, Kuwait, Brazil and Mexico. At home, he had been a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Ohio State, the University of California, San Francisco, his alma mater Baylor College of Medicine, Indiana University and the University of Texas, Dallas. These many invitations and recognitions notwithstanding, Dr. Achauer made time to serve as a commencement speaker at Warrensburg High School. In his private life Dr. Achauer was an avid sailor who knew the marine charts of the coastal waters of Southern California as well as the anatomical charts for the structures of the face.While serving as president of the board of directors of the Educational Foundation of the American Society of Plastic Surgery and a director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Dr. Achauer attended the National American Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Congress in San Antonio late in 2002. Tragically, he developed a gastrointestinal bacterial infection and succumbed to bloodstream infection within 48 hours. Plastic surgeons from across the country attended the family memorial service and an honor guard of firefighters, who knew best Dr. Achauer’s challenges and triumphs, paid their respects at the Medical Center remembrance. Dr. Achauer is survived by his wife, Tamara, and two grown daughters, Allison and Hilary and his sister, Ann Achauer Maidment and her husband Tom. He will be long remembered by the many patients he restored from disfigurement, by the faculty at University of California, Irvine and most of all by his family.Samuel E. Wilson, M.D.Gregory R.D. Evans, M.D.
Bruce Achauer, M.D., 1942 to 2002
Alpert, Bernard S. M.D.
To The plastic surgery family and many of us personally have suffered a tragic, untimely, and irretrievable loss with the passing of Dr. Bruce Achauer. Bruce’s death was the result of a sudden and unrelenting septic episode sustained while attending the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting on November 4, 2002, in San Antonio, Texas.
Bruce was born November 11, 1942, in Warrensburg, Missouri, where his parents raised him and his younger sister, Anne. He was greatly influenced by his father, a pharmacist, and at an early age Bruce made the decision to become a physician. He was valedictorian of his high school class, football team captain and quarterback, and an Eagle Scout. Seeking and achieving excellence came early to Bruce and became a lifelong theme; he did it with grace, sensitivity, and a style that appeared effortless.
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| Bruce Achauer, MD Warrensburg, MO High School 1960  2000 PSF President Bruce M. Achauer*
Bruce graduated from Stanford in 1963 and the Baylor College of Medicine in 1967. After a rotating internship at San Francisco General Hospital, the military called and he spent 2 years as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force. Before induction, he married his sweetheart and from then on lifelong companion, Tamara, creating a match that all who knew them would agree seemed naturally destined. They were married in a small church in Larkspur, California, about a mile from our home. They were married 34 years.
After general and plastic surgery residencies at University of California at Irvine, Bruce entered practice in Orange County, California. He became a professor of plastic surgery at University of California at Irvine and director of its highly acclaimed burn unit, as well as the director of plastic surgery at the Beckman Laser Institute in Irvine. He made seminal contributions in both burn and laser care, and published more than 150 scientific articles. He edited a monumental work,Plastic Surgery: Indications, Operations, and Outcomes, a five-volume textbook of plastic surgery, utilized extensively worldwide.
Bruce rose to the pinnacle of our profession, and he did so without ever taking advantage of any situation or individual. If you heard of his achievements, it was always from others, not him; and perhaps most unusual for such professions, the magnitude of his achievements far exceeded the magnitude of his ego. This measured strength, possessed by few, was a signature. Such treasured qualities evoked the trust and confidence of peers, and Bruce became president of the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation (1999 to 2000) and Chair of the American Board of Plastic Surgery (2001 to 2002).
Bruce had a thirst for adventure that wove a consistent thread through his life. As a young surgeon, he desired to see the hallowed halls of the beginnings of twentieth century plastic surgery, and so he and Tamara took their two young daughters and journeyed to Sweden and Scotland, where they would stay in tents in campgrounds with Bruce emerging from the tent each morning in a suit and tie to visit such places in Stockholm and Glasgow. Summer weekend routines for the family in Long Beach were sails from their home to Catalina Island and back. Time was spent in the high mountains, both Alpine and cross-country skiing in the winter and high-altitude hut trekking in the summers. The couple climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in a blinding snowstorm. Bruce was stoic. I once saw him cross-country ski all day with bleeding heel blisters and never say a word about it.
Bruce Achauer was a person we wanted to represent us. He was a giver. He did it so well. He did it around the world as an emissary for American plastic surgery, in places like Sri Lanka, teaching and using his skills to help others. He did it at home, the embodiment of compassion in caring for the most complicated, tragic, and sometimes highly publicized cases, such as that of David Rothenberg, a terribly burned child. Bruce and Tamara established and endowed a lectureship in biology at Stanford, giving back to his undergraduate university. When asked on one occasion if he’d received any compensation for being a consultant to a television medical drama, he replied, “Yes, two baseball caps. One of them is going to one of my nurses.” Bruce always did us proud. Bruce had an impact on all who came to know him. He won our regard and was highly esteemed for his ability, integrity, determination, and kindness. At a memorial service for him in Long Beach, California, on November 17, 2002, Stanford classmates around the world waved a hand in respect and recognition for Bruce’s friendship and contributions at the exact moment of the beginning of the service, Pacific standard time. Bruce is survived by his wife Tamara, his two daughters, Allison and Hilary, his sister, Anne Maidment, and his mother, Maureen Achauer.
Plastic surgery has suffered a profound loss. I (and I know I am not alone) have lost someone I could call day or night for assistance, knowing that I would receive trusted counsel and aid without being judged. His loss is painfully unfair; his mark, everlasting. We should all strive to follow his examples, and do him proud.
Bruce Achauer: With Respect, Admiration, and Love
You spoke—
And the world listened
You lectured—
And the world learned
You wrote—
And the world understood…….
You smiled—
And the world warmed
You joked—
And the world laughed
You loved—
And the world loved…….
You made the incision—
And the scars fell away
You placed the sutures—
And the smile returned…….
You led—
And the world followed
You served—
And the world benefited
You were humble—
And the world was respectful…….
You lived—
And the world was better
You died—
And the world cried
Robert L. Ruberg, M.D.
N325 Means Hall
1654 Upham Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43210
ruberg-1@medctr.osu.edu
©2003American Society of Plastic Surgeons
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Passage: Dr. Bruce Achauer, 59
11.07.02
Achauer, who died Monday after suddenly falling ill while attending a conference, was the plastic surgeon who helped save David Rothenburg, a 6-year-old boy set on fire by his father during a bitter custody battle in 1983. Achauer performed dozens of surgeries and skin grafts on the boy, who had burns over 90 percent of his body. In private practice, Achauer, who recently completed a five-volume work on plastic surgery, worked on children with facial deformities, birthmarks and cleft lips and palates.
Burn Victim's Acting Debut to Be on Daytime TV Drama
ONE BURN VICTIM EXTENDS AN ENCOURAGING HAND TO ANOTHER
Orange, Calif., Nov. 24, 1984
David Rothenberg, the 8-year-old Brooklyn boy nearly burned to death by his father last year, hopes to give encouragement to Cheryl Bess, the teen-ager whose face was burned away with acid by a kidnapper, the mothers of the two children said today.
David is still an outpatient at the medical center of the University of California at Irvine, undergoing periodic reconstructive surgery to repair damage from third-degree burns he suffered over most of his body when his father set him ablaze in a motel room on a vacation 19 months ago. The father, Charles Rothenberg, is serving a 13-year prison sentence.
Cheryl, 15, of nearby San Bernardino, is in the same medical center. A 65- year-old man who assaulted her as she was walking to school has been charged with kidnapping and attempted murder.
Cheryl has just begun a series of operations to repair damage from the acid that was poured over her head, eating away the skin on her face and leaving her blind and temporarily speechless. Mothers Are Friends
''David keeps asking us if we've told Cheryl all about him,'' Marie Rothenberg said in an interview. ''He wants her to know that he was hurt bad too, and he got better. He wants her to know that she will too.''
A family friend, Judy Curtis, said: ''He wants very much to see her. And as soon as they'll let someone under 16 into her room, he will.''
That could be several weeks because of the severity of Cheryl's injuries. But David's mother, who has moved to southern California from their former home in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn, has already befriended Cheryl's mother, Norma Bess.
''Marie remembers what it was like, how very ill David was,'' Mrs. Bess said. ''She searched me out. It's sisterhood at work.''
Dr. Bruce Achauer, head of the burn unit treating the two children, said he was amazed both by their suffering and their strength.
''What do you say about such indescribable injuries?'' he asked. ''I never imagined there was anything so low as people who would do these sorts of things to children.
''But the other side is the goodness that has sort of helped restore my faith in mankind, the people who have come out of the woodwork to help. And the courage of these children. Such courage.''
David Rothenberg Gallery
David Rothenberg Gallery
Burn Victim's Acting Debut to Be on Daytime TV Drama
"He visits the hospital to offer support," said Rothenberg's agent, Howie Hubberman. "It's an inspirational thing. It comes from the heart because he went through it."
Producers from the drama approached Rothenberg about the part, Hubberman said. Rothenberg taped the show earlier this month. His scenes will appear over two days in early March.
"He was excited about the taping," Hubberman said. "But he didn't realize how hard it was going to be. He really wanted to learn from the experience."
Rothenberg has made friends with several producers in the entertainment industry, and has directed and edited several music videos.
"He wants to learn all facets of the business," Hubberman said. "He plans to go to art school next year."
Rothenberg was 6 when his father, Charles, doused him with kerosene and set him ablaze in a motel room during a custody dispute.
Rothenberg was burned over 90% of his body.
Charles Rothenberg, who now goes by the name Charles Bocca, was paroled in 1990 after serving a 6 1/2-year sentence.
Dave Dave
The boy used to be called David Rothenberg but he changed his name to free himself from his father’s name and criminality, as he put it, after his father had committed an abominable crime – he doused him with kerosene when the boy was asleep, set him on fire and burned 90 per cent of his six-year-old body. This was in 1983.
Michael befriended Dave and though he didn’t pay for his surgeries as his mother had an insurance which covered all medical bills, he offered the boy enormous emotional support for the next 30 years. Dave Dave went to Michael’s funeral and spoke of their friendship there.
This is what Dave remembers of Michael Jackson:
- “He heard about me and contacted me. He wanted to meet me. I was about 7 years old at the time. He befriended me. He took me into his life. He opened up his arms to me and accepted me as a very good friend of his. And throughout the years he never let me go. Michael was like a father to me”.
- “I turned around and there was Michael. At that moment we embraced and that embrace never ended throughout our whole entire friendship.”
- “I believe what people fail to realize is that Michael was a human being. Throughout the years he was kind of stigmatized by the media”.
"He has been my friend throughout everything that I’ve been through. And he’s my only friend that I can say that’s been there for me always. He’s really had an impact on my life – not because he is a celebrity. Becuase he’s been through a kind of the same thing as I’ve been through."
"“He was a great person. He never hurt a soul and I’m happy to have been his friend all these years. Michael offered a lot of emotional support for me. Michael was there for me whenever I needed to talk to him. He opened up Neverland to me as a means to get away. Metaphorically he was always like a father that I never had."
At the funeral Brian Oxman sat next to Dave and spoke of Dave’s eulogy as moving www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2623700/Jackos-star-burned-so-bright.html
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