The Art of Refinement
Facial Plastic Surgery Center Inc., embraces change through new procedures and the addition of an associate surgeon, Dr. Catherine Weng.
It’s late on a Thursday and Jonathan Pontell, M.D., FACS, manages to check one last item off the day’s lengthy to-do list: a phone interview. The interview runs long, due largely to the fact that Dr. Pontell contemplates each question before giving a thorough and insightful answer.
By the time the interview reaches its conclusion, one thing becomes abundantly clear: Even though he is considered one of the region’s most respected specialists in the areas of facial plastic surgery, with a demanding schedule to match, Dr. Pontell is generous with his time and talents, especially when it comes to his patients.
“I’m available to my patients seven days a week,” he says. “We’re not a practice where people feel like they’re part of an assembly line. Our goal is to provide everyone with individualized, personalized care and deliver the results they want. I’m going to carefully evaluate them, give them options, and set realistic expectations so they know exactly what to expect.”
It should come as no surprise that Dr. Pontell’s Wayne-based practice, The Aesthetic Facial Plastic Surgery Center Inc., has been following an upward trajectory since its founding in 2000.
Dr. Pontell specializes in face-lifts, rhinoplasties, blepharoplasties (eyelid lifts), and brow lifts/forehead lifts, among other aspects of facial plastic surgery. While those tried-and-true offerings are among the practice’s most popular, procedures such as SmartGraft™ hair transplantation to address hair loss have powered recent growth.
Although the work is challenging and time consuming, Dr. Pontell finds it incredibly rewarding.
“We’re making patients happy with natural results that make them feel better about themselves,” he says. “Every day I have an opportunity to change someone’s life. In some cases we’re giving them confidence they may have lost, or making them feel more at ease in their own skin.
“Maybe it’s a 16- or 17-year-old girl who has a nose she considers unattractive and a weak chin that I can help with a rhinoplasty and a chin implant and, all of a sudden, she feels great about herself,” he continues. “Or maybe it’s a middle-aged woman with good bone structure who has laxity in her face and the appearance of jowls. I can do a face-lift and make her feel like she’s 30 again.”
Getting Great Outcomes
Dr. Pontell’s considerable skills grew out of his academic training, beginning with medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Then came a specialized residency in otolaryngology and head-and-neck surgery at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, and a fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
Dr. Pontell’s considerable skills grew out of his academic training, beginning with medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Then came a specialized residency in otolaryngology and head-and-neck surgery at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, and a fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
He also devoted three and a half years to the U.S. Army. He served as director of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Tripler Army Medical Center in Oahu, Hawaii, as well as visiting surgeon to the Republic of the Marshall Islands and to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. His extensive travels during his military service enabled him to learn from “masters and leaders” in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Pontell is quick to note that enhancing the structure and aesthetics of the human face requires more than world-class training; it also requires a good eye, a delicate hand, and ample imagination. He grew up in a household of creatives, and he seemed to inherit his parents’ artistic inclinations. He showed particular talents for woodcarving, stained glass, and glassblowing. As he grew older, however, his artistic bent merged with his interest in medicine—surgery, to be more precise.
Today Dr. Pontell performs many of his patients’ surgeries under local anesthesia in the elegant office in Wayne he designed himself. That said, some procedures are more appropriate for accredited surgical facilities nearby, where they can be performed under general anesthesia. Regardless of where he does a particular procedure, patients appreciate the fact that he oversees their postoperative progress to ensure a smooth and on-schedule recovery.
“This is what I’ve always dreamed about, doing the exact procedures I wanted to be doing when I started this practice,” he says. “Twenty-eight years have passed since I finished my training. There are only a couple of people in this area with anything close to the amount of experience I have. That’s important because experience is a huge factor in terms of getting a great outcome.”
‘A Huge Change’
It’s a particularly exciting time for Dr. Pontell, considering a recent addition to the surgical team: Catherine Weng, M.D., FACS, who specializes in rhinoplasties, blepharoplasties, and face-lifts. Board certified in facial plastic surgery and otolaryngology, Dr. Weng joined the practice earlier this summer as an associate.
It’s a particularly exciting time for Dr. Pontell, considering a recent addition to the surgical team: Catherine Weng, M.D., FACS, who specializes in rhinoplasties, blepharoplasties, and face-lifts. Board certified in facial plastic surgery and otolaryngology, Dr. Weng joined the practice earlier this summer as an associate.
“Having another doctor is a huge change to the practice,” Dr. Pontell says. “I have been looking for someone like Dr. Weng for a few years. She’s kind, smart, and very highly trained and educated. We’re a good fit, with similar outlooks and ideas about patient care.”
The two doctors share a few other similarities, too—an interest in all things artistic, for example, and roots in the suburbs of New York.
Dr. Weng earned her undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied architecture and design, as well as biology. She later pursued her medical degree at the Cleveland Clinic-Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.
“My artistic personality is what led me to my interest in architecture and design at MIT, but I always had an interest in medicine,” she says. “I was in my third year of medical school when I had an opportunity to see a reconstructive surgery, and it blew my mind. I liked that it was like putting pieces back together, and it required a lot of artistic thinking.”
After earning her medical degree, Dr. Weng completed a five-year residency in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery at University Hospitals-Case Medical Center. She then relocated to Rochester, New York, where she participated in a year-long fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery under the guidance of world-renowned facial plastic surgeon Vito C. Quatela, M.D. She also had the opportunity to participate in medical missions to underserved communities in Ecuador, Guatemala, and Vietnam; she performed life-changing reconstructive surgeries to people who might not receive such care otherwise.
She and Dr. Pontell met for the first time in 2023, at a casual gathering of plastic surgeons at Bryn Mawr Hospital.
“The timing was coincidentally perfect,” she recalls. “I was looking to start my own practice, and he was looking to bring on another provider. He said, ‘Why don’t you just join me?’ He’s a great surgeon, doctor, and person—very open, honest, and transparent. I’m really excited to be joining him.”
As for Dr. Pontell, a man who has built a long and flourishing career by helping other people make positive changes in their lives, he has no intention of standing pat.
“We’re going to continue to grow the practice,” he adds. “Dr. Weng is a great addition. Who knows? Maybe we’ll wind up adding more doctors in the future.”
The Aesthetic Facial Plastic Surgery Center Inc.
303 W. Lancaster Ave., Suite 1A
Wayne, PA 19087
(610) 688-7100
drpontell.com
303 W. Lancaster Ave., Suite 1A
Wayne, PA 19087
(610) 688-7100
drpontell.com
Photo courtesy of The Aesthetic Facial Plastic Surgery Center Inc.
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, August 2024.
