When you have cancer, an injury, or another condition that affects the appearance or function of your face, skull, scalp, or neck, you may need a plastic and reconstructive surgeon to restore a natural appearance and function. Your surgeon will use skills with tissue rearrangement, microsurgery, and bony fixation to optimize your recovery.
Common head and neck conditions treated by plastic and reconstructive surgeons at St. Luke’s include: facial fractures, broken nose, facial lacerations, facial nerve injury and paralysis, ear trauma or congenital differences, skin cancer, and reconstruction of defects following removal of cancer.
Patrick Gerety, MD is a board-certified plastic surgeon, specializing in pediatric and adult plastic surgery.
Dr. Gerety was first inspired to specialize in plastic surgery to treat cleft lip and palate. He obtained fellowship training in this area, lived overseas as an international volunteer, and ran a busy cleft lip and palate program in Indiana prior to joining St. Luke's. Today, he co-leads St. Luke’s multidisciplinary cleft lip and palate team.
Beyond cleft lip and palate, Dr. Gerety is passionate about caring for patients in need of otoplasty for ear deformities, hidden incisions to remove masses, nevus excision reconstruction, and pediatric breast reconstruction. He is a member of St. Luke’s vascular malformations group that cares for patients with hemangioma and venous malformation.
Dr. Gerety is also an expert in adult plastic surgery, serving patients with both aesthetic and reconstructive needs. He performs a variety of breast procedures, including reduction, augmentation, lift (mastopexy), reconstruction, and gynecomastia surgery (male breast reduction). In addition, he performs cosmetic procedures such as abdominoplasty, rhinoplasty, face lift, and more.
Dr. Gerety graduated first in his class at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, which is ranked as one of the top medical schools in the country. He then completed plastic surgery training at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Dr. Griffiths firmly believes in fixing things correctly the first time. His extensive experience allows him to deliver excellent results, often attracting parents and children from neighboring states. The majority of his cleft patients have only one cleft lip repair, and one palatoplasty, (which is less than half the number of operations compared to results from other surgeons nationwide). In addition, he is able to correct other craniofacial abnormalities, including craniosynostosis, in one surgery more than 95% of the time.
Dr. Griffiths has also pioneered a new microtia reconstructive technique where the entire external ear and ear canal (including ear drum) can be reconstructed during the same surgery. Because of his expertise and focus on fewer surgeries, Dr. Griffiths frequently works with patients and families who travel to Idaho from all across the country for microtia care. Learn more about Dr. Griffiths' microtia expertise
Dr. Griffiths is originally from Salt Lake City and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Utah. His postgraduate residency involved both a preliminary focus on general surgery and a full plastic surgery residency, and was followed by fellowship training in pediatric plastic surgery and craniofacial surgery at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Since moving to Idaho, he established the craniofacial program at St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital and is the founder of the Idaho Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Deformities Institute. He is also a member of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
In his free time, Dr. Griffiths is a competitive endurance bicyclist. He also enjoys fly fishing and restoring 1960s European cars.
Louis H. Poppler, MD, MSCI specializes in minimally invasive reconstructive surgery for patients with cancer, trauma, or birth differences. He has specific training to care for both adults and children. His goal is to help people feel whole again, so they can return to doing the things they love. This means treating you as a whole person, rather than just addressing the problem at hand.
Dr. Poppler will listen to you, considering your goals and struggles, to plan for an outstanding result. His dual plastic and orthopedic surgery training, coupled with extensive experience with nerve injury, reconstruction, and pain resolution, allow Dr. Poppler to approach any reconstructive challenge from multiple perspectives. He’ll form a solution specific to you that minimizes incisions, surgical trauma, and length of surgery while avoiding nerve injuries to minimize pain and recovery time, and maximize function.
In addition to plastic surgery training, Dr. Poppler has completed fellowships in orthopedic hand surgery and microsurgical reconstructive surgery at the Mayo Clinic, and surgery for peripheral nerve injury and pain with surgical pioneer Dr. Susan Mackinnon at Washington University. Dr. Poppler has had the opportunity to travel all over the world to learn cutting-edge techniques and skills to better serve his patients. On these trips, he has connected with international experts to 1) refine his skills using a scope (a small camera inserted into the belly, a joint, or between tissues), which allows him to perform most operations through very small incisions, and 2) learn to use ultrasound to assess anatomy before surgery to more accurately diagnose problems, make many key surgical decisions before surgery, minimize a patient's time under anesthesia, and avoid complications from anatomical variations. Following the example of the Mayo brothers, Dr. Poppler continues to travel and learn. He recently received a prestigious award from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand to travel to China to learn from talented microsurgeons taking care of adults and children with complex injuries of the nerves, hand, and body.
Dr. Poppler returned to Boise, his hometown, to start St. Luke’s reconstructive microsurgery program. Microsurgery (surgery with the help of a microscope) allows Dr. Poppler to borrow redundant tissue from any place on the body and reattach it in another area. This versatile technique allows him to replace bone with bone, muscle with muscle, nerve with nerve, fat with fat, and skin with skin, for a more natural outcome.
Dr. Poppler feels blessed to bring the skills he has learned all over the world home to Idaho. Dr. Poppler is an Eagle Scout and graduated from Timberline High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree in diplomacy from Georgetown University, where he graduated with honors. He credits his diplomacy training with making him a great listener and helping him always keep an open mind. Dr. Poppler attended medical school at the University of Washington as part of the highly competitive Idaho WWAMI program. He has a master’s degree in clinical research from Washington University and continues cutting-edge research in the field of nerve injury reconstruction.
Dr. Poppler enjoys cooking and spending time outdoors with his family, hiking, biking, fishing, and skiing. He also enjoys performing research, learning, and writing about new techniques in reconstructive surgery. A firm believer in giving back, Dr. Poppler also travels on medical missions to help those who otherwise would not have access to specialty health care.
Ketan Sharma, MD, MPH has trained in plastic and reconstructive surgery with advanced fellowship training in hand and microvascular surgery. He treats hand trauma, including fractures and tendon and nerve lacerations, arthritis, Dupuytren's, trigger finger, and hand and arm numbness and weakness. In addition, Dr. Sharma uniquely also focuses on less treated and more intractable conditions including: leg pain numbness and/or weakness, brachial plexus injuries, and chronic shoulder, neck, and upper back pain, numbness, or weakness. Dr. Sharma performs specialized surgeries to restore function, improve sensation, and eliminate pain in patients suffering from these conditions.
Dr. Sharma received a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University. In addition to his medical education, he also obtained a master's degree in public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During his residency, he trained under Dr. Susan Mackinnon, a world famous nerve specialist.
Dr. Sharma has a keen interest in global health and global surgery. He helped build a breast cancer registry with Partners-in-Health/Zanmi Lasante in Haiti; worked with Operation Smile in Guwahati, India; and recently went on a medical mission trip to Madagascar where he helped children with congenital hand defects, including fused fingers and missing thumbs.
Dr. Sharma continues to engage in the academic community to stay on the forefront of cutting-edge care. He has published in some of the most renowned journals including Annals of Surgery; The Lancet: Global Health; Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery; and the flagship journal of the specialty, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Dr. Sharma greatly appreciates Idaho's mountain culture. In his free time, he enjoys running and hiking.
View a more detailed list of Dr. Sharma's surgical procedures
Dr. Wayment earned his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University. He performed his general surgery residency at North East Ohio University College of Medicine and went on to specialize in plastic surgery at North East Ohio University College of Medicine, Summa Health System. He completed a hand fellowship at Christine M. Kleinert Institute of Hand and Micro Surgery.
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