Master of the Craft

If you ask Dr. Pradeep K. Sinha why he became a doctor, he'll respond with his favorite punchline: "I'm probably the only Indian who became a doctor just to spite his Indian parents." A computer whiz by the time he was in middle school (before the heyday of Microsoft and Apple), Sinha's parents wanted him to become a computer scientist. "I have an older brother who chose medicine, so I think my parents, being typical Indian parents, wanted bookends: one doctor, one engineer. But being a rebellious teenager, I refused their wishes and told them I would be a doctor instead," recalls Sinha. "Looking back, had I listened, I would have been in Silicon Valley back in the '80s during the early gold rush days of the internet and might have been a retired billionaire by now. Maybe I should have listened to my parents after all," he adds with a laugh.

But all jokes aside, the 30-year industry vet has had more than his fair share of accomplishments throughout his career—becoming an MD at 24 years old; completing a full PhD program, as well as training in general surgery, otolaryngology and plastic surgery, by the time he was 30; growing his medical practice to six physicians and over 60 employees, just to name a few—and he couldn't imagine his life any other way. "I truly love what I do and feel extremely lucky and blessed to be able to do what I love each and every day," shares Sinha. "The look on my patients' faces when they see their results is priceless and tells me that I have made a very personal and profound impact in their lives with the trust they have put in me. Experiencing these types of moments on a daily basis never gets old and keeps the passion for my work going," he adds.

So, how then did the young aspiring doctor end up in Atlanta 25 years ago? It turns out he owes it all to a random stranger. "In 1996, I was flying to California for a medical school professor job interview when I picked up a magazine someone left in the seat pocket from the previous flight. The cover read something like 'Atlanta: America's Next Boomtown.' There were several pages on the tremendous economic growth coming from the Olympics, the beautiful 'city in a forest' and the unique Southern charm. So, I decided to add Atlanta opportunities to my list," recalls Sinha. "That city went from one I was reading about to the place I've called home for the last two and a half decades. I definitely owe that person a 'thanks' for leaving the magazine for me to find!"

Since moving to our fair city, the impressive doctor—who is double board-certified in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, as well as in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery—has built one of the largest speciality practices for ENT in Atlanta, Atlanta Institute for ENT (ai4ent.com), with offices in Sandy Springs and Alpharetta. The growth only continues with the likely addition of two physicians to the already stacked roster of doctors in the near future. As if one practice wasn't impressive enough, Sinha also founded Atlanta Institute for Facial Aesthetic Surgery (facialaestheticsurgery.com), one of the city's most advanced facial plastic surgery and non-surgical aesthetics centers, over 20 years ago in 1999. Now, the surgical practice is undergoing a major growth spurt with the upcoming opening of a second licensed, accredited ambulatory surgery center at the practice's Alpharetta location, as well as the expansion of its nonsurgical aesthetics division—think CoolSculpting, Botox, fillers, microneedling and more.

When he isn't working (which we must note isn't often, having missed only three scheduled days of work in 30 years since his first job at 15, which were for the birth of his three children), Sinha is busy being an active member of the philanthropic community. In addition to being on the board of trustees for the Woodruff Arts Center and a councilor for the Carter Center, one of his most impressive charitable accolades is spearheading Food for Education's Atlanta chapter, where he helped raise nearly $1 million to build food production facilities in schools in India. If he isn't working or deep in charitable efforts, you'll find the globe-trotting doctor planning his next worldly adventure or spending time with his family.

Doc Off the Clock

When he's not leading successful practices and conquering philanthropic efforts, you can find Dr. Pradeep K. Sinha traveling the world. "I've been to over 50 countries… and I'm not even halfway done with all the places I want to go and things I want to do!" Here are just a few of the many exotic places he's been, plus the next destination on his list.

1. Tibet
"I went to the base camp of Mount Everest, which was absolutely amazing."

2. Iceland
"I've gone scuba diving in the Silfra Fissure in Iceland, which is between tectonic plates and touching two continents."

3. Tanzania
"I've climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. That was incredible."

4. Zambia
"While in Africa, I swam to the very top edge of Victoria Falls in Devil's Pool."

5. Antarctica
"In December, I'm flying 1900 miles from the tip of Chile deep into Antarctica to see a total solar eclipse. I'll do some fat-tire biking, hiking and, you know, just kind of hang on the continent of Antarctica for a while