Neal Handel, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Meet Dr. Neal Handel

Neal Handel, MD, FACS, is a native of Los Angeles and received his medical degree from Yale University. After finishing preliminary training in general surgery, he completed his residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Colorado Medical Center. Dr. Handel completed fellowship training in England and Scotland before entering private practice in Los Angeles in 1980.

For 17 years Dr. Handel was the Associate Director and Senior Plastic Surgeon at The Breast Center, in Van Nuys, California, an internationally known facility specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of breast disorders. During this time, he gained extensive experience in all facets of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the breast. In addition to perfecting his skills in breast surgery, Dr. Handel has maintained an active cosmetic surgery practice, performing hundreds of cosmetic operations of the face as well as body contouring procedures.

Dr. Handel has also been active in research and teaching and has written more than 50 articles in peer reviewed medical journals; he has contributed eight chapters to medical textbooks. Dr. Handel is actively involved in teaching at UCLA Medical School, where he is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Plastic surgery. He is frequently invited as a panelist and speaker at national and international plastic surgery meetings.

Dr. Handel is certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery, is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. In addition, he is a member of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, an exclusive “by invitation only” professional society limited to less than 1% of American plastic surgeons.

Dr. Handel has been interviewed on numerous occasions for articles in newspapers and magazines, and has appeared on many television programs, including a feature role in Plastic Surgery Beverly Hills, a ten-part documentary, which aired in 2005 and 2006 on The Learning Channel. Dr. Handel was selected in 2006 by C-Magazine as one of the "ten best" plastic surgeons in California. He was named by the Santa Barbara News Press "Readers Choice Poll" as "Best Plastic Surgeon in Santa Barbara" in October 2006.