Dr. Berkowitz was born in Youngstown, Ohio. His father was a Reform Judaism rabbi, while his mother was a professor of Romance Languages at Kent State University. During his youth, he became aware of the need for plastic surgery when his father, who had been born with a cleft lip, was denied surgery as an infant due to his own parents’ inability to pay the fee of the Chicago surgeon. The manual dexterity he displayed as a child prompted Dr. Berkowitz’s father to direct him toward becoming a surgeon.
At the University of Michigan, Dr. Berkowitz graduated with honors in art history, where he developed his particular fascination with architecture. What man can do with his hands, following the laws of nature, became his mantra as he pursued a career as a plastic surgeon at the University of Michigan.
There, he inaugurated the first combined general surgery/plastic surgery program under the direction of the great educator, the late William C. Grabb, and the most famous plastic surgeon of that time, the late Dr. Reed Dingman.
Dr. Berkowitz pursued plastic surgery with a passion, and was especially engrossed in the challenging process of giving a child a chance at life by repairing a cleft lip and palate. He traveled the world with the Interplast Organization leading scores of trips to a dozen sites over two decades. He was greatly influenced by his mentor at Stanford, Dr. Donald Laub. He was recruited to Stanford as a faculty member and was director of the Burn Unit at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
When establishing his private practice in what was just beginning to be known as the Silicon Valley, Dr. Berkowitz brought along his skills, compassion, and curiosity to a new community that exemplified the very best in innovation and modernity.
As a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, and The Rhinoplasty Society, he has funneled his academic interest into the postgraduate teaching of young plastic surgeons in the area of breast surgery, facial rejuvenation, and especially rhinoplasty. He is on the board of directors of the Rhinoplasty Society.
As a lecturer, Dr. Berkowitz continues to teach his skills throughout North America, South America, and Europe. He has authored scores of articles on rhinoplasty, facial rejuvenation, and surgery of the breast.
Reviews of Dr. Berkowitz
Leave a Review for Dr. Berkowitz
