The Health Science Center congratulates Jaime R. Garza, M.D., D.D.S., who established the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Health Science Center in 1994, on his retirement as he moves to private practice. He will continue teaching residents through the successful residency program he built. Dr. Garza served as professor of surgery, otolaryngology and prosthodontics, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery, residency program director and associate vice president for the South Texas Border Region health professions education initiative (STBI). Dr. Garza said he looks forward to helping the new division chief make a smooth transition.
“My role at the end of my term is to ensure a smooth transition for my replacement,” Dr. Garza said. “Under new leadership, the university will see an era of exciting research in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery and revamping of our services at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Audie L. Murphy Division. I am very excited for the future of this program and will watch with great anticipation as it becomes one of the top tier training programs in the country,” he said.
Dr. Garza is considered one of the nation’s great plastic and reconstructive surgeons. It was his dedication and leadership that established the Health Science Center’s highly successful training program in plastic and reconstructive surgery. The program now employs five full-time faculty members, 10 clinical faculty members and educates civilian and military residents through its residency training program each year.
Dr. Garza, a former college and professional football player with a strong will to succeed, enjoys working with students and residents and motivating young people to achieve.
“Perseverance is one of the key ingredients for success in life, and in my case it has applied to both medicine and the gridiron,” Dr. Garza said. “Without question, athletics helped me prepare for the long days in the operating room and all the rigorous courses of study.”
Dedicated to inspiring future generations of physicians, Dr. Garza has given lectures to hundreds of high school and college students. In October 2000, he was the keynote speaker for the Valley Honors Students’ Banquet in McAllen. Previous keynote speakers have included President George W. Bush, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a U.S. astronaut and an opera singer. Dr. Garza discussed his four approaches to success – work ethic, vision for the future, choice of mentors and commitment to service. The high school and college students in the audience were so impressed with Dr. Garza’s presentation, that they gave him a standing ovation.
“This was one of the most satisfying moments in my career,” Dr. Garza said. “I am always grateful for the opportunity to encourage young people to follow their dreams of entering the medical profession. There is no more important investment,” he said.
Mario Ramirez, M.D., vice president for the STBI, said he is honored to have worked with Dr. Garza and added that Dr. Garza has shared his knowledge and advice with many students enrolled in the Med/Ed program, which is geared to teens interested in science and health professions, in the Rio Grande Valley as well as to students who attended field trips at the UTHSC campus in San Antonio.
“He was one of our most admired and popular speakers,” Dr. Ramirez said. “One of the students who heard him speak told me, ‘Dr. Garza showed us more than the Hollywood version of plastic surgery. He helped me realize what becoming a doctor really is all about.’” Dr. Ramirez said.
Dr. Garza has continued involvement in sports during his medical career. He was appointed as a tournament physician for several National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four Basketball Tournaments, the 1992 Olympic Trials, the U.S.A. Men’s Boxing Championship and other events. He was a member of the NFL Super Bowl Host Committee for the 2002 game and a team physician for The University of Texas at San Antonio. He has also served on the Board of Directors for the San Antonio Sports Foundation.
Dr. Garza has given lectures nationally and internationally and has published several articles and book chapters on sports-related facial injuries. He sits on the editorial boards of several medical journals. He also holds a U.S. patent on a protective face mask that has been used by the National Basketball Association and NCAA basketball players.
Dr. Garza has earned numerous awards and honors. In 2002 and 2003, Consumer’s Guide named him as one of the “Best Doctors in America” and the Consumers’ Research Council of America named him as one of the “Top Doctors in the U.S.” In 2001 Dr. Garza was inducted into the National Hispanic Sports Hall of Fame. At his induction, he was described as the “consummate student-athlete.” One year earlier, the American Medical Association named him as an “Emerging Leader” and invited him, along with only 50 other physicians nationwide, to attend its “Emerging Leaders Development Program.” Only three of the honorees were Texas physicians.
Arthur S. McFee, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus in the department of surgery, helped recruit Dr. Garza to the Health Science Center in the early 1990s.
“People like Dr. Garza come along very rarely,” Dr. McFee said. “Dr. Garza has so many excellent qualities. He has the training – he is board certified in surgery, plastic surgery and otolaryngology. He has the disposition – the ability to get along with people. And he has the initiative. It isn’t often that all of these wonderful qualities come together in one person,” Dr. McFee said. “Dr. Garza has the understanding of the workings of a medical school and the understanding of how medicine applies to the individual patient. I feel grateful that we were able to recruit him when we did.”
In transition, Dr. Garza plans to devote his time to his private practice and to continuing to develop The University of Texas Sports Science Institute, a collaborative effort among the Health Science Center, UTSA and UT Austin, that incorporates education, sports research, sports medicine, sports psychology and community wellness. He also will continue to lecture and teach in the operating room through his private practice.
“I feel like a coach who has spent the past 10 years building a team with strong character, a great work ethic and a desire to be the best,” Dr. Garza said. “I believe I have laid the foundation for a first-class program in plastic surgery and I am grateful to former chairman of surgery J. Bradley Aust, M.D., Ph.D., clinical professor of surgery, for recruiting me and having the confidence in me to build a plastic surgery program from the ground up. I am honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to contribute to the Health Science Center, to San Antonio and to the entire South Texas community,” Dr. Garza said.
Dr. Garza is a native of San Antonio and was an All-District and All-City wide receiver at Jefferson High School in 1972. He went on to break almost all the receiving records at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he attended on an athletic scholarship from 1972 to 1976. He later attended training camps with the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints.
Dr. Garza earned his M.D. degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans and his D.D.S. degree from LSU’s School of Dentistry. He trained in general surgery at the Health Science Center for two years and then completed an otolaryngology/head and neck surgery residency at LSU and plastic surgery training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
“The university will certainly miss Dr. Garza,” Dr. McFee said. “He was a very special person – the kind of person that doesn’t come along often.” Dr. Ramirez added: “I had the privilege of working with Dr. Garza and grew to know him better quickly. He showed so much passion in his work. It was inspiring. I consider him a close and personal friend. We will all miss him and wish him the best in his transition,” Dr. Ramirez said.
