Dr. Ian Frazier Lytle, MD

I believe that my training in sculpture and painting influences my surgical techniques. There are several aspects of art that can be directly related to plastic surgery. First, there is vision or seeing how an object can be transformed. Second, there is the calculated planning of how to make the “before” become the “after.” Next, there is the physical use of the hands. I feel that the same techniques used in sculpting clay can be compare to reconstructing a breast or the chiseling of marble to sculpting the body. Lastly, both fine art and plastic surgery are all about the fine details that should never get overlooked.

I love the challenge and diversity of my job. No two patients are alike nor are two surgeries ever the same. In this profession, I may be working on a cosmetic body procedure in the morning, a breast cancer reconstruction in the afternoon and a facial trauma in the evening. As humans we relate by direct interactions with each other and right or wrong, we …often define ourselves by what we see in the mirror. It is very satisfying to be able to make my patients not only look like themselves again.

If I had to define what inspires me with one word, it would be craftsmanship. I look back at the cars of the 30's and 40's and see the beautiful lines that the designers used to transform a mode of transportation into an object of art. I look at the architecture of the 1920's and see the carved stone and woodwork that artisans expertly executed and realize that a home or office does not need to be a cold rectangular building. I look to the Art Nouveau movement and see how artists like Louis C.Tiffany, Alphonse Mucha, and Hector Guimard saw beauty in nature and presented back to us. I surround myself with these images and try to live my life with these same ideals of craftsmanship.