John Cassel, M.D., F.A.C.S.

From Dr. Cassel:

My interest in art preceded my knowledge of plastic surgery by many years. As a boy, I thought a plastic surgeon simply put plastic in people, like Bondo in a fender dent. At the same time, I was well acquainted with gems, minerals, precious metals and how to shape and form them. Ironically, the term, plastikos, from the Greek means to shape or form, yet I still had no inkling of my double destiny with the word.

I was sixteen, and already had seven years experience in gem cutting and jewelry making garnered from a burning curiosity and a Museum of Science in bike riding distance. I took every course I could and fell in love with gem cutting, both en cabochon and faceting. I ended up teaching the gem cutting course on weekends, at a time when there was no such thing as Community Service Hours. I did it for the love of the Art.

While in college, I owned a jewelry store in down town Miami where I converted my avocation into a vocation. I eagerly learned from the industrious Cuban craftsmen who filled the buildings of the jewelry trade district, and added many skills to my arsenal. I began to perfect my work in brass. copper, gold, silver, clay, amalgam, enamel, wood, and even vegetables. Still, though, the elusive climax to my journey of artistic fulfillment remained out of reach until I began to consider the ultimate medium, the human body. Thus began my commitment to enter medical school and pursue the long hard road to plastic surgery.

Artist Moulds Himself into a Plastic Surgeon

It was a natural decision when Dr. John Cassel planned to pursue a career in plastic surgery. An award-winning artist, Dr. Cassel has expressed his creative talent since childhood via sculpture, photography, and stained glass as well as precious gem cutting and the design and creation of fine jewelry.

"Cosmetic surgery is the ultimate medium of artistic endeavor. Unlike clay or stone, the demands of blood supply challenge the desire to modify the shape of a human subject, but when this can be done successfully, the gratification is overwhelming."

A Miami native, Dr. Cassel has a well known long-standing private practice specializing in cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. He is past chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at Baptist Hospital of Miami, and past president of the Greater Miami Society of Plastic Surgeons. In addition to his private practice, he was a Volunteer Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of Miami for nearly twenty years where he was responsible for the training and evaluation of plastic surgery residents. Dr. Cassel is board certified as a Diplomat of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

After his general surgery residency, Dr. Cassel's training included both a plastic surgery residency with Dr. D. Ralph Millard at the University of Miami, and a full year fellowship in reconstructive microsurgery at the prestigious Davies Medical Center in San Francisco.

The author of various publications in plastic surgery, Dr. Cassel specializes in cosmetic surgery of the face, eyes, ears, nose, and breasts, liposuction and body contouring, as well as breast reconstruction following mastectomy. Dr. Cassel was one of the first plastic surgeons in Miami to perform the TRAM flap, a sophisticated type of breast reconstruction without implants using the body's own tissues from the abdomen.

Dr. Cassel is listed in Who's Who and has been recognized innumerable times with one of the highest survey ratings of all South Florida plastic surgeons in Miami Metro Magazine and South Florida Magazine. He has also been honored in Guide to America’s Top Surgeons and The Best Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons Voted by Their Peers. His surgical cases have been featured in television documentaries such as Discovery Channel, Dateline, and TechTV, as well as many news and magazine articles.

Dr. Cassel is a member of various professional and honorary organizations including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. Dr. Cassel's practice draws patients from many regions of the United States as well as the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe.