December 2021 – Beyond Plastic MD

As the year draws to a close, thoughts inevitably become reflective. I reflect on the year just past and on the one to come. There were big changes for me, both personal and professional. This year I celebrated the 30th anniversary of my 39th birthday. I recovered from Covid. I also celebrated 40 years of marriage to the woman of my dreams, my true soul mate. Next year, I will begin the seventh decade of my life and I foresee big changes, retirement or at least a major slowing down of clinical practice being one of them. It has been a good run.

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Meet Dr. Rick Bosshardt

Dr. Bosshardt attended the Leonard Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami, graduating in 1978. He completed a general surgery residency at the United States Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. His residency term was interrupted from 1979-80 when he served as medical officer aboard the USS Wabash and was deployed to the Western Pacific with an aircraft carrier task force. During that year, the Wabash was involved in the rescue of Vietnamese boat people and was part of operations to end the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980. The USS Wabash crew received several decorations for this deployment, including the Meritorious Unit Commendation. Upon completion of his training, Dr. Bosshardt served as a general surgeon at the United States Naval Hospital in Okinawa, Japan from 1984-87. During this time, he obtained his board certification from the American Board of Surgery. While in Okinawa, Dr. Bosshardt applied, and was accepted, for residency training in plastic surgery under world-renowned plastic surgeon, D. Ralph Millard, Jr., M.D., at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center in Miami, Florida. He was honorably discharged from the Navy with the rank of Commander in 1987 and completed his plastic surgery training in Miami from 1987-89. Dr. Bosshardt arrived in Lake County in July of 1989 as the first plastic surgeon in the county. He obtained lifetime certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery in 1991. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Since starting in private practice, Dr. Bosshardt has participated regularly in overseas medical missions to provide reconstructive surgery to children with cleft lip, cleft palate. and other problems. His travels have taken him to the Philippines, Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, the West Bank, and Mexico. Dr. Bosshardt performs both cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery in his practice, which has grown to two surgeons working out of a modern facility that houses the only state licensed private surgical suite in Central Florida dedicated exclusively to plastic surgery. He has privileges at Advent Health Waterman and University of Florida Leesburg Hospital.