Michael Friel, MD, is the director of pediatric plastic surgery for the Gayle and Tom Benson Ochsner Children's Hospital. His practice is focused on infants, children and adolescents. He is a national authority in cleft lip and palate care, and leads Ochsner's comprehensive Craniofacial and Cleft Lip and Palate team. Dr. Friel is the author of textbook chapters and journal articles on multiple topics within pediatric plastic surgery. He served as the pediatric plastic surgery editor for Annals of Plastic Surgery for a decade.

Pediatric plastic surgery is a very broad field covering congenital and post-traumatic reconstruction for many conditions and covering many parts of the body including congenital hand surgery and adolescent breast surgery.

Dr. Friel is a graduate of Tulane University where his undergraduate degree was in biomedical engineering. He subsequently graduated from Tulane University medical school. He completed his surgery residency at the McGovern School of Medicine at University of Texas Health in Houston. He then completed his plastic surgery residency at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Dr. Friel completed a pediatric plastic surgery/craniofacial fellowship at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. He completed a separate fellowship in hand surgery and microsurgery at the Buncke Clinic in San Francisco. He holds board certification from the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery - Subspecialty Cert in Surgery of the Hand.

He is a member of the International Society of Craniofacial Surgery, the American Society of Craniofacial Surgeons, The American Cleft Palate / Craniofacial Association, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Association of Plastic Surgeons. He enjoys participating in medical missions. He is a dad of six children, active in his church parish and enjoys cheering on his children at their sporting events and dance recitals.