Passing along surgical technique is one part of medical education. Passing along a sense of obligation toward patients who cannot pay is another, and it is the second lesson that Dr. Andrew Jacono has built into his role as Fellowship Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Teaching Technique and Ethics Together
As Fellowship Director, Dr. Andrew Jacono works directly with surgeons still early in their careers, guiding them through the technical demands of complex facial reconstruction while also introducing them to the humanitarian side of the specialty. Fellows trained under his direction learn procedures alongside the broader framework he has applied throughout his own career, one where surgical skill creates a responsibility to serve people beyond a paying patient base. That framework grew out of his own experience with the FACE TO FACE project and his international missions treating children with cleft lip and palate, microtia, facial tumors and burn scars.
Academic Posts That Extend His Reach
His academic appointments reinforce that teaching role. Dr. Jacono holds a position at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and serves as Section Head of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at North Shore University Hospital, appointments that put him in regular contact with medical students and residents rather than only fellows further along in training. These posts give him repeated opportunities to introduce younger physicians to humanitarian work before their careers settle into a fixed pattern, a stage when habits around pro bono service are more likely to take hold.
The result is a training pipeline that extends past any single surgery or mission trip. Surgeons who study under Dr. Andrew Jacono encounter both the operating room skills tied to his Park Avenue practice and the ethical framework behind more than 850 patients treated through his domestic and international humanitarian work combined, a combination he appears intent on carrying into the next generation of facial plastic surgery. See related link for more information.
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