Thomas J. Francel, MD, FACS, received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts and his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In 2010, an anonymous patient of Dr. Francel established a scholarship at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine as a testament to the “genuine compassion he displays for all those under his care.” It is given to a student each year who “demonstrates uncommon compassion for others.”
He completed his surgical training at Harvard Surgical Services in Boston, Massachusetts, the Royal Aberdeen Infirmary in the United Kingdom, and was a clinical fellow in surgery at Harvard Medical School. He received his board certification in general surgery in 1989 and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
- Johns Hopkins Hospital
- Raymond Curtis Hand Center
- Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland
He served as an Instructor of Plastic Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and as an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine.
Dr. Francel is Board Certified in Plastic Surgery and a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and American Society of Aesthetic Surgery. He was also Associate Professor of Surgery, St. Louis University, for 15 years.
Dr. Francel previously served as the Chief of Plastic Surgery at Mercy Medical Center-St Louis having previously been Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Jewish Hospital St Louis and Assistant Chief of Service at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
He has extensive training and experience in both aesthetic (cosmetic) and reconstructive plastic surgery. He has published over 25 manuscripts in leading American and international journals. He has contributed over 19 chapters in 6 Plastic Surgery textbooks. The most recent chapters concentrate on facial rejuvenation and breast surgery.
He has reviewed for three prominent journals:
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Annals of Plastic Surgery
- Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Because of his expertise, he was selected as Guest Editor and served on the Editorial Staff of Annals of Plastic Surgery.
He is a member of the Plastic Surgery Research Council and has been invited to lecture both nationally and internationally in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada. Dr. Francel was recently recognized nationally as one of the top plastic surgeons involved with the 20 year FDA study of Silicone Gel Filled Breast Implants. He has helped to educate other plastic surgeons as an instructor at national conferences of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation. He has a special interest in plastic surgery education, receiving awards as the best teacher in the Washington University Division of Plastic Surgery and two national awards from the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation.
Dr. Francel’s expertise is face and breast surgery. He recently wrote and contributed a chapter on necklift surgery to a prominent teaching textbook and multiple chapters on breast surgery in the textbook “Decision Making in Plastic Surgery”.
Since 1992 he had been the plastic surgeon for the St Louis Blues NHL hockey team caring for the players, families, and staff. Dr. Francel has been the sole provider of surgery since 1998 for patients in the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Clinic at Mercy Hospital St. Louis who cannot otherwise afford surgery to reconstruct their post-surgical defects and deformities. This includes breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer. Dr. Francel has been a strong patient advocate appearing on national television and in newspapers addressing patient safety issues, and most recently as an author of “Exposing Bad Plastic Surgery”.
His surgical expertise includes:
- Facial rejuvenation surgery
- Breast surgery including cancer reconstruction
- Body contouring surgery
- Reconstruction of all cancer deformities
