Dr. Schoenberg recalls his roots and gives back

By Deborah Moon

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Dr. Erik Schoenberg knows how it feels to get a hand up in the world and now he gives back by putting a fresh face on life for those who have undergone traumatic experiences.

Growing up in a single-parent household in New York and New Jersey, Schoenberg said he owes his excellent education to the Jewish community who provided scholarships for him to attend the Hebrew Academy of Morris County Solomon Schecter Day School for eight years.

Schoenberg said his father Kenneth Schoenberg, who now lives in Portland too, “raised me with a strong appreciation for health and helping other people. His involvement (in Judaism) was to get me into Solomon Schecter School.

“That had a huge impact and gave me my impetus to stay Jewish and to have a great appreciation for my tradition and a desire to help people,” said Schoenberg. “I was fortunate to have that scholarship and it helped form me into who I am today. I can’t say enough about that whole school system, which is on the same model at Portland Jewish Academy,” where he noted he plans to send his firstborn. He and wife Lora expect their first child in March.

That early education provided not only a firm foundation in Judaism but also a strong secular education that propelled him to be one of 35 students selected for the six-year combined B.A./M.D. program at Boston University. After a five-year residency in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery and facial plastic surgery at New Jersey Medical School, he completed an 18-month fellowship in facial plastic surgery at Park Central Institute in St. Louis.

Schoenberg moved to Portland in 1999 to join the otolaryngology and facial plastic surgery staff of the Veterans Administration Medical Center and the faculty at Oregon Health and Sciences University, where he is a professor in otolaryngology and facial plastic surgery. He still holds those posts in addition to having private practices in otolaryngology at Fanno Creek Clinic and facial plastic and reconstructive surgery in Lake Oswego.

“People say plastic surgery is vanity, but if you feel good about yourself because of the way you come across to people, it’s going to help other aspects of your life,” he said.

Schoenberg thinks that people who have been through significant trauma—such as the Holocaust or domestic violence—deserve that same improved outlook on life. So over the past few years, he has performed no-fee plastic surgery for about 15 patients.

He said he learned about the Holocaust during his years in Jewish day school. He remembers being selected one year to speak about the Holocaust during a choir performance on Yom HaShoah.

“I have the greatest admiration for them (Holocaust survivors); nothing compares to what they have endured,” he said. “I am grateful that my work has given me the opportunity to serve and to honor them by rejuvenating their appearance and their spirit.”

While he was a resident, Schoenberg became a volunteer in the Face-to-Face Project, a national philanthropic program for victims of domestic violence. He continued that affiliation in Portland. Additionally, he has provided no-cost surgery for children with birth defects through the “I Have a Dream” Foundation.

He said not all of the pro-bono work he does is to correct a problem that resulted directly from the Holocaust or domestic violence. While a Holocaust survivor might not have visible scars from their experiences, he said the experience was bound to age them beyond their years.

“If I knew someone lived through a horror, that qualified them for what I could do for them,” he said.

He said he did major plastic surgery for one woman although her face had not been damaged, but her life was in ruins as a result of domestic violence.

“It turned her life around,” he said. “For her, having a new face allowed her to have a new outlook and to change bad patterns she had developed."

Not only did surgery improve her outlook, Schoenberg said that her daughter was also inspired to go to college, the first in her family to do so, and she now wants to become a doctor.

“I tell them I didn’t come from a privileged background,” said Schoenberg. “I come from humble beginnings. There’s no reason not to do it because medical school is expensive. If you want to make a difference and help someone, it can be done.”