Serving All San Diego County — Meet La Mesa Plastic Surgeon Dr. Ervin Wheeler

San Diego County's "Top Plastic Surgeon"

San Diego Magazine awarded its coveted title of "Top Plastic Surgeon" to Dr. Ervin Wheeler in 2005 because of his exceptional skills, his outstanding record for safety, and his dedication to his profession. Dr. Wheeler has extensive general surgery training and more than 25 years of experience in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Dr. Wheeler's credentials go beyond being voted San Diego’s "Top Plastic Surgeon," however. In addition to providing patients exceptional care at his La Mesa practice, Dr. Ervin Wheeler trains future plastic surgeons as an Associate Professor at the University of California– San Diego’s School of Medicine, where he is able to stay abreast of plastic surgery advancements and contribute to the future of medicine. Dr. Wheeler also works as a consultant to Cytori Therapeutics to develop adult stem cell treatments for cardiovascular, spine, and gastrointestinal disorders, and to find new approaches for aesthetic and reconstructive surgery using adult stem cells.

Helping the Less Fortunate

La Mesa plastic surgeon Dr. Ervin Wheeler regularly extends his healing hands beyond the borders of San Diego County. To help the less fortunate, Dr. Wheeler travels to Mexico several times a year as a volunteer with the Interface organization. In Mexico, he serves the poor by providing free plastic surgery services such as cleft-lip and palate repair, burn scar reconstruction, and repair of facial trauma. Dr. Wheeler takes pride in his more than 20 years of medical work helping the less fortunate. It has been a very rewarding part of his life.

Contact our La Mesa office today to learn how San Diego Magazine’s "Top Plastic Surgeon" for 2005, Dr. Ervin Wheeler, can help you achieve the cosmetic results you desire.

Dr. Ervin Wheeler’s Curriculum Vitae

Below we have provided the curriculum vitae of La Mesa plastic surgeon Dr. Ervin Wheeler so that you can see his extensive credentials firsthand. Please note his broad education and training; his clinical appointments, including Chief of Plastic Surgery at San Diego ’s Grossmont Hospital; and his long list of awards and honors. You’ll find that Dr. Wheeler served proudly in the U.S. Naval Reserve, and that he maintains active memberships in several medical societies and organizations. Patients of plastic surgeon Dr. Ervin Wheeler should take special note of his numerous publications and presentations. They demonstrate Dr. Wheeler’s dedication to his craft and his desire to provide the safest, most advanced plastic surgery procedures to his patients and to the medical community.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Board Certification

National Board of Medical Examiners 1971-Present

American Board of Surgery 1979-1989

American Board of Plastic Surgery 1981-Present

Hospital Appointments

University of California San Diego: Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery (Plastic)

Clinical Attending Staff at University Hospital and Veterans Administration Medical Center

Alvarado Community Hospital : Active Staff. Chief of Plastic Surgery 1983-1988.

Children's Hospital: Senior Staff. Chief of Plastic Surgery 1993-2002.

Memberships

American Board of Plastic Surgery - ABPS

American Society of Plastic Surgeons - ASPS

American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery - ASAPS

California Society of Plastic Surgeons - CSPS

American College of Surgeons - ACS

Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society - AOA

Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society

Longmire Society (UCLA Surgical Society)

Victor Vaughan Society (Medical School University of Michigan)

Honors & Awards

Alpha Omega Alpha (National Medical School Honor Society - graduated 4th in class of 200)

Phi Kappa Phi

Surgical Honors Society at the University of Michigan

Clinical Instructor of the Year 1981 - UCSD Division of Plastic Surgery

Clinical Instructor 15 Year Teaching Award 1996 - UCSD Division of Plastic Surgery

President San Diego Plastic Surgery Society 1991-1992

Member - Board of Directors Interface UCSD - Volunteer Program of surgical reconstruction in foreign lands

Councilor to the California Society of Plastic Surgery 1997-2002

Research & Educational Experience

Research Associate in the Rackham Arthritis Research Unit of the University of Michigan in association with Lee E. Bartholomew, M.D. May-August 1965: June-August 1966: June-July 1967.

Instructor of Anatomy, University of Michigan School of Nursing. Director: Theodore C. Kramer, M.D., Professor of Anatomy. June-August 1967.

Research Associate in Plastic Surgery, Wadsworth VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Director: Timothy A. Miller, M.D. July 1974-July 1975. Continuing on part-time basis, presently general research areas include burn wound healing, hyperbaric oxygen in wound healing, free muscle grafting, and methods of soft tissue augmentation.

Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSD Division of Plastic Surgery 1980-1985

Associate Clinical Professor, UCSD Division of Plastic Surgery 1985-Present.

Education

High School

L'Anse Creuse High School Mt. Clemens, Michigan 1959-1963

Undergraduate Education

University of Michigan College of L.S. & A. Ann Arbor, Michigan B.S., Cum Laude, August 16, 1968

Medical Education

University of Michigan Medical School Ann Arbor, Michigan Medical Degree, Cum Laude, June 6, 1970

Training Following Medical School

Internship

Stanford University Hospital Stanford, California June 22, 1970-June 21, 1971

Residency

Publications

Bartholomew, L.E., Wheeler, E.S. and Nelson, F.: Heat sensitive mycoplasma antigens. J. Lab Clin Med 72:65-70, 1968.

Tank, E.S., Fellman, S.L., Wheeler, E.S., Weaver, D.K., and Lapides, J.: Treatment of urogenital tract rhabdomyosarcoma in infants and children. J. Urol 107:324-328, 1972.

Wheeler, E.S.: The development of antiseptic surgery. Am J Surg 127:573-579, 1974.

Wheeler, E.S. and Miller, T.A.: Tattoo removal by split thickness tangential excision. West J Med 124:272-275.

Wheeler, E.S. and Miller, T.A.: The blister and the second degree burn in guinea pigs: The effect of exposure. Plast Reconstr Surg 57:74-83, 1976. (Reprinted in the 1977 Yearbook of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.)

Korn, H.N., Wheeler, E.S. and Miller, T.A.: Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on second degree burn wound healing. Arch Surg 112:732-737, 1977.

Miller, T.A., Korn, H.N., Wheeler, E.S. and Eldridge, L.: Can one muscle reinnervate another? A preliminary study of muscular neurotization in the rabbit. Plas Reconst Surg 61 (1):50, 1978.

Miller, T.A. and Wheeler, E.S.: Free muscle grafts, chapter in Neurological Aspects of Reconstructive Surgery. Fredericks, S. and Brody, G., Ed., St. Louis, C.V. Mosby Co., p. 301-306, 1978.

Wheeler, E.S. and Longmire, W.P.: Repair of benign stricture of the common bile duct by jejunal interposition choledochoduodenstomy. Surg Gynec Obstet 146:260, 1978.

Machleder, H.I., Wheeler, E.S. and Barker, W.F.: Treatment of upper extremity ischemia by cervico dorsal sympathectomy. Vasc Surg 19:399, 1979.

Wheeler, E.S. et al: Familial lymphedema praecox: Meige Disease. Plast Reconstr Surg 67:362, 1981.

Das, S.K., Cragun, J.R., Wheeler, E.S., Goshgarian, G. and Miller, T.A.: Free grafting of the omentum for soft tissue augmentation: A preliminary laboratory study. Plast Reconst Surg 68:556, 1981.

Wheeler, E.S., Meals, R.A.: Dupuytren's diathesis: A broad spectrum disease: Plast Reconstr Surg 68:781, 1981.

Brody, G.S. and Wheeler, E.S.: Medial canthal tendon reconstruction. Plast Reconstr Surg 68:789, 1981.

Wheeler, E.S., Kawamoto, H.K. and Zarem, H.A.: Bone grafts for nasal reconstruction. Plast Reconstr Surg 69:9, 1982.

Brones, M.D., Wheeler, E.S. and Lesavoy, M.A.: Restoration of elbow flexion with latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap. Plast Reconstr Surg 69:329, 1982.

Presentations

Implications of evaporative water loss in partial-thickness burns. Southern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Santa Barbara, California, January 1975.

The blister and second-degree burn: The effect of exposure. American Association of Plastic Surgeons, Scottsdale, Arizona, April 1975.

Hyperbaric oxygen and second-degree burn would healing. Plastic Surgery Research Council, Denver, Colorado, December 1976.

Free omental grafts for soft tissue augmentation. Resident section of the Society of University Surgeons, Louisville, Kentucky, February 1978.

Congenital nasal hypoplasia and anticoagulant therapy. California Society of Plastic Surgeons, Monterey, California, March 1979.

Pressure sores: Medical vs. Surgical management. Dynamic Dimensions in Health Care, Phoenix, Arizona, January 1980.

Bone grafts for nasal reconstruction. California Society of Plastic Surgeons, San Diego, California, March 1980 and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, April 1981.

An overview of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Seminar, El Cajon, California, January 1981.

1-Hand infections. 2-Finger tip injuries. Wound Management Workshop for Physician Assistants, San Diego, California, February 1981.

Plastic surgery of congenital deformities, Sharp Memorial Hospital, San Diego, California, March 1981.

Ophthalmologic aspects of plastic surgery. San Diego Optometric Society, April 1981.

1-Problem sounds. 2-Tendon and nerve injuries. 3-Finger tip injuries. Wound Management Course for Non-Surgeons, University of California San Diego, April 1981.

Hand injuries and rehabilitation. Industrial Indemnity Seminar, San Diego, California, April 1981.

Wound Management Seminar, course director and lecturer, California Medical Association, March 14, 1982.

Tendon and nerve injuries. Wound Management Course for Non-Surgeons, University of California San Diego, April 1982.

Plastic Surgery Update, Grossmont Hospital, San Diego, California, August 1982.

Wound Management Seminar, course director and lecturer, California Medical Association, March 12, 1983.

General surgical staff rounds. Plastic surgery of the breast, Grossmont and Alvarado Hospital, San Diego, California, April 14, 1983.

Suture laboratory. Wound Management Course, University of California San Diego, April 1983.

Breakfast consultation, Plastic Surgery, Grossmont Hospital, San Diego, California, April 1983.

Cleft Palate Seminar. Children's Hospital, San Diego, California, April 1983.

Wound Management Seminar. Course director and lecturer, California Medical Association, March 10, 1985.

Suture laboratory and problem cases conference. University of California San Diego, each year to date.

Wound Management Course. University of California San Diego, each year to date.

Volunteer Medical Activity

University of California at San Diego, Field Surgical Program, UCSD, 1980-present.

Three to four trips to Mexico yearly.

Frequently surgeon in charge for team of surgeons and staff.

Contact our La Mesa office to meet San Diego's "Top Plastic Surgeon," Dr. Ervin Wheeler, and find out how he can transform your life.