Grant R. Fairbanks M.D.
Dr. Fairbanks was the founding President of the Utah State Plastic Surgery Society. He is past President of the Reed O. Dingman Society for Plastic Surgery at the University of Michigan. He served as an officer in the Utah Medical Association and as Chairman of the Department of Surgery at St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. Dr. Fairbanks served in the U.S. Military as Capt. M.C. in the 144th Evacuation Hospital, Utah National Guard; as Battalion Surgeon in the 110th Artillery, Maryland National Guard; and as Commanding Officer of the 381st General Dispensary, USAR, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Dr. Fairbanks combines Art with Medicine in the form of Plastic Surgery. He believes that Plastic Surgery is the finest of the Fine Arts. Dr. Fairbanks comes from an artistic background by both heritage and education. His father, Avard T. Fairbanks, Ph.D., was an internationally renowned sculptor. Throughout his youth Dr. Fairbanks worked in his father’s studios, learning the sculpture profession and appreciation of classical sculptural beauty. His own talents were enhanced by studies with many of Utah’s most noted artists. From his own artistic accomplishments, the best known is his sculptural re-creation of the Eagle for Salt Lake City’s famed Eagle Gate. He also created a bronze portrait of Louis P. Gebhardt, M.D., Professor of Microbiology, which is located in the University of Utah Medical Library.
The large relief of the Great Seal of the State of Utah behind the Utah Governor’s desk is another of his artistic accomplishments. A bronze statue of the winged horse “Pegasus” for the Pegasus Critical Care Center for large animals, Michigan State University Veterinary school, East Lansing, Michigan is another of his sculpting achievements. He created the Medal of Honor for the William C. Grabb, M.D. Memorial Lectureship at the University of Michigan. He has painted still life, landscapes, and done medical illustrations; he is an excellent painter of the human figure. Dr. Fairbanks is a recipient of the prestigious Jerome Klingbeil Award for excellence in teaching by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
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Dr. Fairbanks is accomplished in all areas of Plastic Surgery. In professional circles, he is best known for his special experience in dealing with difficult problems of the nose and face. He believes that breathing and appearance are interdependent. His expertise is correcting intranasal airway problems as well as achieving improvement in nasal form. His services are frequently sought by patients who have had unsatisfactory prior nasal surgery He is experienced in restoration of beauty to the torso, including breasts and abdomen, and contouring of the hips, and thighs. Breast enlargement (augmentation), breast lifting (mastopexy), breast reduction, and breast reconstruction are all procedures which Dr. Fairbanks performs with consummate skill. With regard to the aging face, (facelift) Dr. Fairbanks has made many technical innovations to improve on state-of-the-Art techniques whereby patients can expect significant rejuvenation without appearing tight, stretched, or unnatural. He is accomplished as a scholarly writer and lecturer, and has served as a visiting professor for professional groups in the USA and internationally. He teaches a symposium to Plastic Surgeons on Medical Life Drawing and Sculpture in Plastic Surgery at a national professional society meeting.
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Dr. Fairbanks is nationally recognized as a member of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgery. He is a member of the Reed O. Dingman Society of the University of Michigan, The Salt Lake Surgery Society, the Utah State Plastic Surgery Society, and the President’s Council Society, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan. Dr. Fairbanks is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He is an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
Plastic surgery is the finest of the Fine Arts. Every plastic surgeon should be an artist or have an essential art background. For this reason, we share our expertise when we teach an Art/Sculpture course annually to plastic surgeons at a major national society meeting.
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Your plastic surgeons at Fairbanks Plastic Surgery have undergone formal art training as well as complete professional surgery training. There is also a strong family background in the arts. The art heritage in the Fairbanks family extends back multiple generations. Dr. Fairbanks’ grandfather was a painter in the 19th Century, who studied in Paris under Rigolo, who was a student of Corot. His son, Avard T. Fairbanks, was a professor of sculpture at the University of Michigan when Dr. Grant R. Fairbanks was born. Avard Fairbanks did his Ph.D. thesis on anatomical design.
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Like Michelangelo, he studied human anatomy extensively, made accurate sculptured anatomic models and elucidated important concepts which affect the way both the artist and plastic surgeon look at the human body. Anatomy became the hallmark of his sculpture. Dr. Avard T. Fairbanks moved to Utah to accept a position as Dean of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Utah, which school he organized and continued as professor of sculpture until his retirement.