Dr. Patrick Tonnard

Dr. Patrick L. Tonnard graduated in medicine from Ghent University in 1987. He spent three years as an assistant surgeon to Professor Derom at Ghent University Hospital and was then appointed as an assistant in plastic surgery at the Hôpital du Tondu in Bordeaux, France. From 1990 to 1993 he worked as a plastic surgeon alongside Professor Matton at Ghent University Hospital. He then spent six months as an assistant to Dr. Ortiz-Monasterio in Mexico City. He eventually set up his practice in Ghent.

Since 1994 Dr. Tonnard has acted as a plastic surgery consultant at Ghent University Sint-Lucas and assistant clinical professor at Ghent University Hospital. He was a founder partner of the Coupure Centre for Plastic Surgery and in 2005 also became a founder partner of ‘t Zwin Medical Centre in the Dutch town of Oostburg. With his colleague Dr. Verpaele he set up the ‘Aesthetic Medical Centre 2’ (E:MC²) in 2007. This is an exclusive private surgical centre for aesthetic surgery in Sint-Martems-Latem.

Dr. Tonnard is a member of the Royal Belgian Society for Surgery, the Belgian and Dutch Association for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, the ISAPS (International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons) and the ASAPS (American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons). He has also been appointed Fellow of the Collegium Chirurgicum Plasticum and Fellow of the European Board of Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Tonnard is also the author of approximately fifty scientific publications, has presented over two hundred scientific papers at national and international conferences, and made numerous contributions to scientific articles and books. He is much in demand as a speaker and moderator at international conferences and is an authority on surgical rejuvenation of the face.

Together with Dr. Verpaele he developed the revolutionary MACS lift, a minimally invasive facelift technique that aims to produce the best and most natural result with rapid recovery and minimal complications. This achievement has earned him and Dr. Verpaele an international reputation. In 2004 and 2007 they contributed two scientific chapters about this surgical technique, written for plastic surgeons all over the world: The MACS-lift Short Scar Rhytidectomy, 2004, St Louis; and Short Scar Face-lifting, Operative Strategies and Techniques, 2007, St Louis.

Dr. Tonnard has also written for a less specialised public: he contributed to the book Van top tot teen – alles over plastische chirurgie [From top to toe – all about plastic surgery] by Hubert Tygat and in 2000 he published Schone Schijn. Een wegwijzer in de plastische chirurgie [Looking Beautiful. A guide to plastic surgery] which he wrote with the journalist Laurens de Keyser.

Dr. Tonnard and Dr. Verpaele set up ‘See and Smile’ in 2006. This is an association of Flemish plastic surgeons and ophthalmologists who travel to developing countries at regular intervals to perform operations. They carry out basic plastic surgery procedures (especially treatment for hare lip and cleft palate) and eye treatments (especially for cataracts). Their destinations so far have included Pnom Penh (Cambodia), Oaxaca (Mexico), Sagain (Myanmar) and Flores (Indonesia).

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL CAREER

  • M.D. degree with cum laude at University of Gent, Belgium 1980-1987
    Assistant Resident in General Surgery, University Hospital Gent, Belgium(Prof. Dr. F. Derom), 1987 – 1990
  • Fellow in the Department of Plastic Surgery, Hôpital du Tondu,
  • Bordeaux, France (Prof. Dr. Jacques Baudet), 1990
  • Assistant Resident in the Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital, Gent, Belgium (Prof. Dr. Guido Matton), 1990 – 1993
  • Fellow in the department of Craniomaxillofacial and Plastic Surgery, Hospital Gea Gonzalez, Mexico City, Mexico (Prof. Dr. Fernando Ortiz Monasterio), 1993
  • Fellow in the department of Plastic Surgery, Vanderbilt Unversity, Nashville, Tennessee, USA (Dr. Patrick Maxwell), 1994
  • Fellow in the department of Plastic Surgery, University of Chicago/St-Joseph Hospital, Chicago, USA (Dr. Gary Burget), 1994
  • Consultant Plastic Surgeon, St. Luke Hospital Gent, Belgium, since March 1994
  • Founder and Co-director of the private clinic “Coupure Centre for Plastic Surgery” in Gent, Belgium since 1997
  • Co-founder and co-director of the “Esthetic Medical Center II” (E:MC²) in St-Martens-Latem, Belgium in 2007.
  • Assistant Clinical Professor, Rhinoplastic Surgery, University Hospital Gent, Belgium, 1994 – 2006

MEMBERSHIPS
Member of :

  • The Royal Belgian Society of Plastic Surgery (RBSPS)
  • The Belgian Association for Burn Injuries
  • The International Consortium of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ICAPS)
  • The Royal Belgian Society of Surgery
  • The Collegium Chirurgicum Plasticum Belgicum (CCP)
  • The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS)
  • The European Association of Plastic Surgeons (EURAPS)
  • The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS)

Diplomate of :

  • The European Board of Plastic Surgeons (EBOPRAS)

AWARDS

  • Price of the best paper presented at the EURAPS meeting, Vienna, 2003
  • Raymond Vilain Award for an outstanding scientific presentation at the ASAPS meeting in Boston, 2003 and in Vancouver 2004
  • Ideas and Innovation Award at the ISAPS meeting in Rio de Janeiro, 2014: “Nanofat grafting”

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES
Publications:

  • Author of 36 scientific papers in A1 and A2 peer reviewed international publications

Oral Communications:

  • More than 200 scientific papers communications, invited lectures and courses on national and international congresses

Books:
– scientific:

  • “The MACS-lift – Short-Scar Rhytidectomy”, Patrick Tonnard, Alexis Verpaele. Quality Medical Publishing, St. Louis, 2004
  • “Short-Scar Face Lift – operative strategies and techniques”, Patrick Tonnard, Alexis Verpaele. Quality Medical Publishing, St-Louis, 2007

– popular:

  • “Schone Schijn” A manual for plastic surgery patients with information and answers on questions in great demand. Patrick Tonnard. Van Halewijck, 2000
  • “Verliefd op het tweede gezicht”, an interview on technical and philosophical questions on facial rejuvenation surgery. Patrick Tonnard, Alexis Verpaele, Houtekiet, 2009

Book Chapters:

  • The MACS-Lift Short Scar Rhytidectomy. Patrick TONNARD, Alexis VERPAELE. Quality Medical Publishing. The Art of Aesthetic Surgery. Principles & Techniques. Ed. Foad Nahai, St. Louis, Misouri, 2005, Volume II, 969-1016
  • Lower Third of the Face: Indications and Limitations of the Minimal Access Cranial Suspension Lift, Alexis VERPAELE, Patrick TONNARD. Clinics in Plastic Surgery – Facelifts, Part II. Ed: Malcolm D. Paul. W.B. Saunders Company/ Elsevier. Philadelphia, Pensylvania, 2008, October – volume 35, 4, p. 645-659
  • The MACS-Lift – Minimal Access Cranial Suspension Lift. Patrick TONNARD, Alexis VERPAELE. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Aesthetic Surgery of the Facial Mosaic. Ed. Dimitrije E. Panfilov. 2007, p. 359-365
  • Combining Microfat Grafting with the MACS-Lift Face Lift and with Facial Reshaping Procedures. Patrick TONNARD, Alexis VERPAELE. Quality Medical Publishing. Fat Injection: From Filling to Regeneration. Ed. Syd Coleman, Ricardo Mazzola, St. Louis, Misouri, 2009, Volume II, p. 321-372
  • MACS Facelift. Patrick TONNARD, Alexis VERPAELE. Elsevier. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Ed. Aston, Steinbrech, Walden, London, 2009, p. 137-148

HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS

  • Conductor of several third world projects. Surgical mission projects for cleft lip and palate patients in Myanmar since more than 15 years.
  • Founding member of the eye and plastic surgery mission organization “See & Smile”. For more information please see www.seeandsmile.com.