Meet Dr. Andres Taleisnik
Dr. Andres graduated in 1980 from Foothill High School in Tustin, ranked # 1 in a class of 570 students with a 4.0 GPA. He was a National Merit Scholarship finalist, and winner of the Bank of America Liberal Arts Scholarship. His aptitude for sciences led to a second place finish in the California State Science Fair.
Dr. Andres attended Princeton University, where he majored in Biology. He graduated from Princeton in 1984 with a 3.9 GPA, receiving Summa Cum Laude honors. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society. He also received Highest Honors in the Department of Biology and garnered the Senior Book Prize for his Thesis work. During the summers, he was employed in the laboratory of Dr. Alan Gazzaniga, a prominent local cardiothoracic surgeon, and also worked at Disneyland.
After graduating from Princeton, Dr. Andres returned to Southern California, where he attended medical school at UCLA. He graduated from UCLA in 1988 with a 3.95 GPA, and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He also was awarded the Victor Hall Scholarship as the top student in Physiology, and a merit scholarship for academic excellence.
Dr. Andres then completed six years of training in surgery at UCLA, including general and vascular surgery, pediatric surgery, chest surgery, trauma surgery, cancer surgery and plastic surgery. He completed a year as Chief Resident in 1993-1994. During his surgery residency, Dr. Andres performed research in the plastic surgery laboratory of Dr. William Shaw, and received the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation Research Fellowship award, one of four $ 30,000 grants awarded nationally each year. He also spent time assisting in the reconstructive surgeries for burned children at Shriner’s Hospital in Los Angeles.
After completing general surgery training, Dr. Andres was selected to continue his training in plastic surgery at UCLA, one of the top three programs in the country. He received extensive experience in all facets of plastic surgery, including craniofacial, pediatric, microsurgery, oncologic, hand and aesthetic (cosmetic) surgery. He had the opportunity to learn from some of the top plastic surgeons in the world, including those that are the “Plastic Surgeons to the Stars” of Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
In 1996-1997, Dr. Andres and his growing family traveled to San Antonio, Texas to study Hand and Microsurgery at the renowned Hand Center of San Antonio under David Green, M.D. Following that year of wonderful experience, Dr. Andres returned home to Orange County to stay.
