Scott Karlan, MD, FACS
Director of Physician Education, Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center
Scott Karlan, MD is Director of Physician Education at the Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center at Cedars-Sinai. Dr. Karlan was in private practice in Beverly Hills for 13 years before joining the academic faculty in the Department of Surgery at Cedars-Sinai.
While in private practice, he helped pioneer techniques that reduced pain and hastened recovery from breast surgery. These techniques allow most breast surgery to be done on an ambulatory basis. Because of this experience, he helped to write many of the original accreditation standards currently used by the Institute of Medical Quality to assure the safety of Outpatient Surgery Centers in California.
As a board-certified general surgeon, Dr. Karlan is able to offer patients a wide range of options for treating breast abnormalities. He is not only experienced with state-of-the-art surgical techniques, but also has years of experience with nonsurgical, minimally invasive approaches, using ultrasound and computer guidance.
Dr. Karlan has lectured and written articles on breast surgery and reconstruction. He is an active member of several professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons, American Society of General Surgeons and the American Society of Breast Surgeons. He is a former president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and has chaired the Los Angeles Delegation to the California Medical Association. He currently represents the American Society of General Surgeons as its Delegate to the American Medical Association. He was board-certified in 1988, re-certified in 1996, and has been an Associate Board Examiner.
Dr. Karlan received his bachelor's degree from Harvard College. He then enrolled in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Engineering at the same time. He returned to Harvard and completed his medical studies, then went to Yale-New Haven Hospital for his residency in general surgery.
