Thomas Geraghty
is a fine platic surgeon, but what truly distinguishes him is not
merely his ability to erase wrinkles or improve curves. Twenty years
ago while the Kansas City native was teaching through Truman Medical
Center and Children’s Mercy, a friend told him about people with desperate
needs in the Dominican Republic, one of the poorest countries in the
world. Since that day, Geraghty has been taking regular trips abroad
to perform facial reconstructive surgery for those whose poverty would
otherwise prevent them from getting appropriate care.
“It’s pure
medicine – taking care of real people with real needs, and not even
thinking about insurance or approval or how much to charge,”
says Geraghty. “I know it sounds trite to say, but I honestly
feel like I ge more out of it than the patients do.”
Geraghty has also
been involved in trips to Bolivia, Burma and Thailand; and he has
scheduled two more trips to the Dominican, and he’s performed more
than 5,000 reconstructive operations there.
Geraghty admits
he occasionally enjoys playing tennis, water-skiing and boating at
Table Rock Lake in souther Missouri, “but my main hobby is taking
those trips.”
A graduate of
Bishop Miege High School and KU Medical School, Geraghty says he was
drawn to plastic surgery because of the variety. “Every day is
different. Every patient brings a unique set of challenges.”
An iconoclast
at heart, Geraghty says he always preferred taking the road less traveled.
Geraghty seems to appreciate variety more than anything else. He loves
the opportunity to do cosmetic surgery here in the United States,
because it helps him see the wide spectrum of applications to his
craft. “Maybe it’s not quite an art form, but to erase lines
or augment breasts in Kansas City, then only a few days later to rebuild
jaws of people living in huts with dirt floors…it’s as great a job
as I can imagine!”