Richard Mladick was all of four
years old when he decided he
wanted to be a doctor. A surgeon
to be specific. His mother and
aunt were quick to see the possibilities.
“They said when you become
a doctor, we want you to be a plastic surgeon so that
some day you can work on us,” Mladick laughs.
Mladick did indeed become a plastic surgeon – an
endlessly innovative, internationally respected plastic
surgeon with an impressive list of firsts on his resume.
“Dr. Mladick will certainly be remembered as a
pioneer, not only here locally but around the world,
in developing many of the standards in cosmetic surgery,”
agrees Dr. Michael Denk, a partner at Associates
in Plastic Surgery in Virginia Beach.
Mladick was completing a general surgical residency
at Cook County Hospital in Chicago in the
early ‘60s when he discovered an abiding fascination
with plastic surgery. “Near the end of my residency, I
started watching a very well-known plastic surgeon,”
he recalls. “I saw the delicacy and the intricacy of the
work – it was intriguing.”
The gift of a plastic surgery textbook from a friend
absorbed him. “I read it cover to cover,” he shares.
“Then I said that’s what I want to do.”