Daniel Beom Soo Kim, MD

Daniel B. Kim, MD, was born on November 23, 1966, in Seoul, Korea. His family immigrated to America when he was only 10 years old. His parents worked long, hard hours to support and encourage him to pursue a career in medicine. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, he began his medical education at the University of Texas Medical School, Houston. During his last year at the medical school, he met Geoffrey Robb, MD, who nurtured his interest in plastic surgery.

In 1993, Dr. Kim became the first medical student to be accepted into Loma Linda University Medical Center plastic surgery residency program as a "coordinated plastic surgery resident" which integrates both general surgery and plastic surgery training into a single training program. Thus, after three years of general surgery (prerequisite) training, he began plastic surgery training in 1996.

During his training, Dr. Kim was involved in several clinical and basic science research projects. This work culminated in 23 presentations, 19 publications and abstracts, and 4 poster presentations. He was awarded "Best Resident Paper" at the annual California Society of Plastic Surgery meeting in 1998, for his project in the area of craniofacial surgery.

In 1997 and 1998, Dr. Kim had the opportunity to participate in two medical outreach trips to the Philippines. He is now credited with the dubbing of these international trips as "Operation Good Samaritan," named after a prominent landmark sculpture on campus. During his two trips with "Operation Good Samaritan," he was involved with the care of over 45 patients with congenital and acquired deformities.

Dr. Kim met his loving and supportive wife, Joan, during college and married her seven years later in 1993. During his plastic surgery residency, they were blessed with the birth of a son, Aaron Dong Hyun, and then a daughter, Kate Jin Young.

Following completion of his residency training, Dr. Kim joined a past alumni resident, Robert Kachenmeister, MD, in private practice in Newport Beach, California.