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Mark V. Connelly, M.D., honored as 2010 Schoenrock Award Recipient
Mark V. Connelly, M.D., was named recipient of the 2010 Larry D. Schoenrock Distinguished Service Award, which will be presented during the AAFPRS Fall meeting in Boston. The American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery grants the award annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the integrity of the examination and certification programs for facial plastic surgery.
Like many of his colleagues, Connelly always knew that surgery was in his blood—he just didn't know what kind of surgery he wanted to specialize in until he met Dr. Leslie Bernstein during his third year of medical school at the University of Iowa. "I was sitting in the back of a lecture hall during my otolaryngology rotation listening to some guy named Dr. Leslie Bernstein give a lecture on rhinoplasty," Connelly relates. "Dr. Bernstein was giving a fascinating lecture, but he could sense that he wasn't getting his point across to the residents, so he stepped to the blackboard and drew a perfectly detailed presentation of the ideal placement of spreader grafts between the septum and the upper lateral cartilages. From the minute I saw that beautiful drawing, I was hooked," confesses Connelly.
"After the lecture, I walked straight into Dr. Bernstein's office, introduced myself, and blurted out that I'd like to learn more from him. Dr. Bernstein looked at me and didn't say anything for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, after I'd shrunk about two feet waiting for his reply, he asked if I'd like to help him with two research projects that he had planned for the coming year. Naturally, I jumped at this great opportunity. I worked with Dr. Bernstein all year, published the article with him, and presented it at a research meeting at Northwestern University," states Connelly. "After working with Dr. Bernstein that year, I knew I had found my specialty niche."
"While I was at Iowa, I was also fortunate to work with Chuck Krause, who was on staff at the time, and Roger Crumley, who was in the same year of his residency as I was," remembers Connelly. "Roger and I kept in touch after I started my practice at Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and he stressed that it was time for me to get active in the AAFPRS. Of course, Dr. Crumley is always full of good advice, so I got involved in AAFPRS committees and eventually was asked to serve on the AAFPRS Board. It was then that I met Larry Schoenrock for the first time. He was quite a man—a charismatic surgeon whose love for the specialty shone through in every lecture he gave and every article he wrote. I'm just sorry I didn't get the chance to know him better," says Connelly.
When Connelly was appointed as the At-Large representative on the ABFPRS Credentials Committee, he found the perfect venue for his talents as a champion for facial plastic surgery's credentialing standards. "When the chance came to serve the ABFPRS, I jumped at it," recalls Connelly. "I have always pictured myself as a mainstream guy practicing the best facial plastics I can. I am not a writer, not a lecturer, not charismatic. But I think of myself as one of the ‘foot soldiers' who can contribute in other ways to our great profession. That's where my work on the ABFPRS Credentials Committee comes in—working on that committee has been a great joy for me," he admits.
Connelly was so adept at winnowing out the details of difficult credentialing issues, as well as working with state medical boards, that he was appointed Chairman of the ABFPRS Credentials Committee in 2003 and served in that capacity until 2009. "He's the Board's ‘Dutch Uncle'," says Dr. Ira Papel, current ABFPRS President. "We kid Mark about that nickname, but it's so appropriate. If a candidate needed some clarification about the Board's credentialing standards, Mark would never hesitate to pick up the phone and have a conversation about what it takes, as well as what it means, to be an ABFPRS diplomate," relates Papel.
"During his tenure as chairman," continues Papel, "Mark helped shepherd through almost one third of the 990 diplomats who are currently certified by the ABFPRS. He also helped incorporate new disciplinary alert notices from state medical boards into the Credential Committee's review process. In addition to all that, he was responsible for overseeing the new Terms and Conditions program for diplomats who are currently working through problems with their state medical boards. That's an incredible achievement," states Papel. "His work for this committee speaks volumes about Mark's ongoing commitment to uphold and expand the exacting standards that our certification program represents," concludes the ABFPRS President.
In addition to his continuing duties on the Credentials Committee as a senior adviser, Dr. Connelly also serves as ABFPRS Vice-President, and is a member of the Bylaws and Publications Committee as well as the Graduate Medical Education Committee. He has also served as ABFPRS Secretary and was in the first group of diplomats to complete all ABFPRS MOC in FPRS® requirements. Dr. Connelly has an active facial plastic surgery practice at the Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin and loves to spend any free time with his wonderful wife, Jeanne, and their children and grandchildren.
Nominations for the 2011 Schoenrock award should be addressed to the ABFPRS Executive Committee in care of ABFPRS, 115-C South Saint Asaph Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, or email SchoenrockAward@abfprs.org.
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