Dr. Rafael Magana

Dr. Rafael Magana is a surgeon with extensive surgical experience. During his career, he has worked at New York-Presbyterian Hospital's burn center, Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, and the Northern Westchester Aesthetic Institute in Mount Kisco, New York. He has also co-authored several publications as part of his extensive research in the surgical field.
Dr. Magana emphasizes helping his patients find procedures that fit their aesthetic goals. He explores options with his patients for addressing areas that may be targeted for aesthetic improvements.
Dr. Magana has devoted his life and passion to the art and science of plastic surgery. Committed to excellence, he completed extensive training, including six years of medical school and 13 years of postgraduate training in several plastic surgery subspecialties.
He began medical school at 18 years of age, and during his time at university, he completed the "Cellular and Molecular Biology Course for Instructors." He volunteered to form part of the National Poliomyelitis vaccination campaign, serving thousands of people in underprivileged communities in Mexico City and surrounding areas.
Upon completion of medical school, Dr. Magana underwent seven years of rigorous training in General Surgery, graduating from New York Medical College in 2005. As a Resident, he was the recipient of the Teaching Resident of the Year Award (2004). Additionally, whilst chief resident, he received the Laparoscopic Resident of the Year Award from the Society of Laparoscopic-Endoscopic Surgeons, New York, NY (2005).
Dr. Magana continued to pursue further medical training by helping patients at the Weill-Cornell Burn Unit in New York City, the busiest patient burn center in the US, where he trained to treat the full spectrum of burn injuries. During his two years in training at the burn unit, he cared for children and adults using the most advanced techniques in reconstructive procedures and continued their care in the Intensive Care Unit. During this time, he co-authored a book chapter titled "Infection in The Burn Injured Patient," Current Therapy of Infectious Disease, 3rd Ed. 2007.
After finishing his fellowship as a burn surgeon, he continued his training by seeking a specialization in Craniofacial Surgery in one of the busiest programs in the country. As part of this program, he performed surgical corrections of a variety of craniofacial deformities, including cleft lip, cleft palate, as well as craniomaxillofacial trauma.
Subsequently, Dr. Magana turned his attention to Oncologic Breast Reconstruction Surgery and was admitted to the fellowship at the Aesthetic Institute in Mount Kisco, NY. There, he practiced state-of-the-art techniques using cutting-edge technology to treat the full spectrum of breast deformities and apply the most innovative surgical solutions for his patients.
During his time at the Aesthetic Institute, Dr. Magana co-authored a research article featuring one of the most innovative technologies in tissue harvesting and transplant within the biomaterials field (FLEX-HD), which is used in breast reconstruction surgery.
In 2011, Dr. Magana completed his residency at the Medical College of Georgia. Upon completion of the program, he was distinguished as a recipient of the Kenna Given Resident Achievement Award in Plastic Surgery at the Medical College of Georgia.
Beyond his work as an accomplished Plastic Surgeon, as an able professional, Dr. Magana seeks to give back to his fellow men and women by conducting mission trips to remote areas of the world where underprivileged people are in need of specialized medical attention. An example of this is recent mission trips to the Philippines' isolated communities of Mindanao and Tayug Pangasinan, where cases of cleft lips and cleft palate are endemic. More complex cases, such as cranial encephalocele, would be completely out of reach for the patients there without surgeons like Dr. Magana to visit their villages to operate on them.
More recently, he has co-authored a book chronicling his experiences throughout his education and his professional journey, his learnings, and his views as a person who values human need and human beauty.