The doctors

Dr Julia Berkei:

After studying medicine at Leipzig University, where my father had also studied medicine, I took every opportunity, including observerships, conventions and part of my internship, to visit specialists in plastic surgery all over the world in order to see and learn their techniques. This is a list of the best known names:

• Dr Toni Bull at the National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in London
• Dr Michael Yaremchuck at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston
• Dr Shenaq, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
• Dr Tom Roberts, South Carolina Plastic Surgery

I learned most from Dr Tom Roberts, whom I particularly admire for his extraordinary professional and human maturity and goodness. I was deeply impressed by the exquisite concentration and accuracy with which he executed every operation. Whether nose surgery, face lift, or fat transfer, he performed each operation with the same precision and love for detail. I learned from him to only lay down the scalpel at the end of the operation when I personally was 100% satisfied.

I started my speciality training in the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery at St. George Hospital in Leipzig. The special emphasis of the training programme consisted of plastic-reconstructive interventions, hand surgery and treatment of severe burns. The department included a burn centre with eight intensive care beds. I owe to this part of my training programme, and especially to Dr Michael Steen, my extensive training in hand surgery and plastic-reconstructive operations. I acquired special expertise in the treatment of complicated wounds and scars through the experience with patients with severe burns.

I acquired training in plastic-aesthetic surgery with special emphasis on breast operations and face surgery during my work as doctor-in-training in the practice of Dr Jochen Hecker in Langen near Frankfurt am Main. At that time, Dr Hecker had the largest private practice in the area of Frankfurt am Main and was as Lemperle student an enthusiastic aesthetic surgeon. He taught me his surgical techniques in my two-year training there. I also acquired a high level of confidence to operate independently and make clear decisions.

In the subsequent years I used these skills in my own practice, first in Leipzig, then in Frankfurt am Main at Goetheplatz , and finally in the new practice in Goethestrasse in the centre of the city.

Professionally, I was always interested in nose operations, considered the top interventions in plastic surgery. In the early years the main activity consisted of face lifts, lid surgery, and other lift operations. Liposuction seems easy compared with the other more complex interventions, but only a top professional can achieve good results continuously. I perform all the plastic-aesthetic operations, even the eyelid lift, with the same passion and with the same total dedication for the best result. Nose corrections with or without nasal septum straightening have become my special interest in the area of face surgery. Breast augmentations, breast reductions and breast lifts are operations requiring great surgical experience; we perform these, as well as other procedures, regularly.

I have the great fortune to be surrounded by a wonderful team consisting of colleagues, doctors-in-training and patient care staff. We all put the same passion into the work and set ourselves the highest quality standards.