Volney Pitombo, MD – BRAZIL

In our most recent Coffee & Anecdotes, we are pleased to introduce Dr. Volney Pitombo, a prominent plastic surgery leader in Brazil and a world-renowned rhinoplasty expert. Beyond his individual achievements, he has played a significant role at the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (SBCP), serving as president for the 2024–2025 term. 

ISAPS: Please tell us a little bit more about yourself. Where did you grow up, and what was your family life like? What inspired you to become a doctor, and what led you to choose plastic surgery?

I was born in Bahia, a northeastern Brazilian state, where I spent my childhood and most of my teen years in close contact with all sorts of ideas shaped by the intellectual effervescence of the 50’s and 60’s. My father, Dival Pitombo, a professor and scholar passionate about literature and music, was a great influence on my development. Among his friends were prominent figures of the Brazilian and international cultural scene who frequently came to my home. At the age of 12, I had the privilege of personally meeting Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, who had lunch at my house at my father's invitation. It was experiences like this one that made me develop a taste for the arts and humanities. I am deeply fond of classical music, with Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach, my favorite composers. I enjoy reading, especially philosophy and historical books.

It was thanks to my uncle, a gynecologist, that medicine became an essential part of my life. At the time, I was eight years old, and he took me to his shifts, and this closer contact with patient care revealed to me the human and powerful feeling of caring for people who often sought a cure. The real meaning of medicine fascinated me.

At the age of fifteen, I accompanied my mother to undergo plastic surgery with Ivo Pitanguy. This experience was a determining factor in my decision to become a plastic surgeon. It is indeed within this medical specialty that I could intertwine science and the arts.

After medical school and residency years in both general and plastic surgery, I went to London for a two-year postgraduate program. I became D. N. Matthew’s private assistant while working as a registrar at the Hospital for Sick Children (Great Ormond Street Hospital). Participating in daily surgical procedures on cleft lip and nose, I became deeply interested in these particularly small and delicate anatomic structures while reconstructing the noses of those patients. There began my passion for rhinoplasty. This procedure is the one that allows me to express most of my creativity and artistic sense.

We invite you to read more about him and his perspectives in our latest issue of IN.