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Paul's decisions
Paul Tessier decided upon medicine as a career and entered medical school in Nantes in 1938 -
WWII
His training was interrupted by WWII, and like his father, he ended up a prisoner in a German military hospital, where he came close to death from undiagnosed typhoid fever -
Paul's intrest pull factor
During his intern years in Nantes, he saw a cleft lip repair, which began an interest in plastic surgery. He also formed a close relationship with Gabriel Sourdille, who was one of France’s leading ophthalmologists. -
During Paul Tessier's career
after graduation from medical school, Tessier moved to Paris, since the hospital in Nantes had been destroyed. Here he had training in maxillofacial surgery with Drs. Aubry and Virenque at Hôpital de Puteaux, and later at Hôpital Saint-Joseph with Georges Huc, a pediatric surgeon who he considered his “Maître”. -
Broadening Education
Paul began spending several months every year visiting leading plastic surgeons around the world – Gillies, McIndoe, Mowlem and Kilner in Great Britain, Webster, Barrett Brown and Millard in the U.S., and many others. Paul Tessier, on his own, learned what there was to be learned about plastic surgery as it was practiced at the time. He was a true auto-didact. -
First Promotion and Surgery
Paul became Chief of the Plastic Surgery Division at Hôpital Foch in Paris. He ran the burn unit and some of the burn reconstructions he did still remain the gold standard. He did hand surgery. The Chief of the Maxillofacial Unit, a petty and jealous Army Officer named Gustave Ginestet, sent Tessier a letter forbidding him to do maxillofacial surgery. Fortunately, he ignored this ukase, and in 1958, performed the first successful Le Fort 3 osteotomy on an adult patient named Maurice Anquetil. -
The making in History
at the International Meeting in Rome, his presentation shocked the Plastic Surgery world, and in the 30 years that followed. Paul Tessier single-handedly made the subspecialty of craniofacial surgery. Virtually everyone doing craniofacial surgery learned the craft from Paul Tessier. -
Paul Tessier Retierment
Paul spent his time helping the newer doctors in mastering his art. -
Paul Tessier's Death
Paul Tessier died, but created an amazing art that will be used from now and forever. -
Works CIted
GOOGLE. (n.d.). Google Images. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/imghp?gws_rd=ssl Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery. (2008, July). Dr. Paul Tessier. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2740534/ The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation. (n.d.). History - Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.omsfoundation.org/history Wolfe, M.D., A. S. (n.d.). AAPS - Memoirs. Retrieved from http://www.aaps1921.org/memoirs/PaulTessier.cgi
