Dr. Wilberto G. Cortés was born in Puerto Rico, the beautiful Island of Enchantment in the Caribbean. Early in his academic years at Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, he decided to apply for medical school to become a plastic surgeon. He received numerous awards and distinctions during college and graduated Magna Cum Laude. As  he pursued his dream of becoming a plastic surgeon, he was accepted at Ponce School of Medicine, a US accredited medical school located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. After four years of meeting the requirements of an intense educational curriculum, he graduated with the highest academic distinction of his class and was accepted in an integrated plastic surgery program at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee where he completed a very challenging plastic surgery training. During his training, he spent a year doing research,  traveled to South America, and was able to develop a protocol for facial anatomic dissections in order to determine and analyze the anatomical basis of a youthful face and neck. This landmark study was presented in the most prestigious plastic surgery meetings nationwide and has been quoted in one of the most recent books of necklifting techniques. His dedication, open mindedness, and keen eye allowed him to determine the location of the retaining ligaments of the neck. These structures are believed to be one of the many factors involved in the aging process. Due to hundreds of hours of anatomic dissections in the States and South America, Dr. Cortés has been able to master in detail the anatomy of the body. This has allowed him to fully understand the underlying problems to surgically choose the best procedures to correct the aging process.

After his residency,  he had the privilege and opportunity to visit many different authorities in the field of plastic surgery. Dr. Cortés was able to spend time in Miami with one of the greatest specialists in the area of liposculpture and buttock shaping. He has attained world-class training in breast augmentation, breast reconstruction, liposculpture, and buttock shaping with fat grafting.

• The retaining ligaments of the neck. The anatomical basis of the youthful neck. Cortés W, Yousif NJ, Sanger J, Ramírez C, Matloub HS. Presented at the Plastic Surgery Research Conference, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, May 28, 2005.

• Refinements of tissue expansion for pediatric forehead reconstruction. Cortés W, Gosain AK.  Presented at the Annual Research Day, Department of Plastic Surgery, Milwaukee, WI, June 17, 2005.

• The retaining ligaments of the neck. The anatomical basis of the youthful neck. Cortés W, Yousif NJ, Sanger J, Ramírez C, Matloub HS.
Presented at the 42nd Wisconsin Society of Plastic Surgeons. Milwaukee, WI, March 21, 2006.

• The retaining ligaments of the neck. The anatomical basis of the youthful neck. Cortés W, Yousif NJ, Sanger J, Ramírez C, Matloub HS.
Presented at the Resident Research Day, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, June 23, 2006.

• Micro-CT a viable technique to determine patterns of cranial suture fusion. Cortés W, Gosain AK. Presented at the Resident Research Day, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, June 23, 2006.

• The use of the superior-medial pedicle in severe gynecomastia. Cortés W, Larson, DL.  Presented at the Resident Research Day, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, June 15, 2007.