It is rare to find a mentor that can guide you in both the clinical and philosophical areas of dentistry. Dr. I. Stephen Brown is committed to excellence for himself, his staff, and his patients. As a dental resident, he had shown me on a number of occasions that patients deserve your best effort from ideal treatment planning to careful execution of dental care. I have learned from his example that being a superb dentist is a combination of offering your patients optimal care as well as lifetime enhancement of your own clinical skills. I would gladly allow myself or anyone I know to be a patient of Dr. Brown’s.

– Paul Goodman, DMD (former dental resident of Dr. Brown’s

The intent of my writing is to introduce you to I. Stephen Brown, the man that I have come to know and admire over the last two years of working with him at Albert Einstein Medical Center. When I first started my residency two years ago I met Dr. Brown for the first time at his Tuesday night seminars. My first impression of him was that he was a distinguished, well-dressed, extremely professional yet very down-to-earth man who seemed excited and eager to get to know us. You would not have known by his unassuming nature that he is so well recognized not only in the area, but in the country as well. After listening to many of his stimulating lectures he showed me that by truly believing in the value of what we can do as dentists, we can always deliver quality dentistry to those we treat.

One of Dr. Brown’s best attributes is his willingness to teach others all that he knows. In this cutthroat competitive world many professionals’ goals are to have an edge over their “competitors”. Dr. Brown turns his back to this way of life and continues to remain cutting-edge without that attitude. In fact, he insists on passing his professional knowledge and experiences to everyone he encounters. It is this kind of generosity that makes Dr. Brown the excellent practitioner that he is.

Lastly, I have had the privilege of watching Dr. Brown perform several surgeries on his patients at Albert Einstein hospital. For each of his cases it was clear that he had prepared and planned each surgery carefully. He took each surgery as a new experience and worked meticulously and efficiently to execute a successful surgery. His balance between efficiency, confidence, and perfectionism kept the patient as well as those working with him at ease.

I can’t tell you enough how grateful I am to have learned from such an amazing person and practitioner. I would recommend to anyone who needed a periodontal procedure to go to Dr. Brown for this work. He will deliver the utmost compassionate and skillful care a patient deserves. Thank you Dr. Brown for helping me to have the great learning experience I had at Albert Einstein Medical Center. I owe much of my success in the program and my professional life to you.

Lisa M. Perrotta, DMD (former chief resident at Albert Einstein Medical Center)

I first met I. Stephen Brown when I began my residency program at Albert Einstein Medical Center. Albert Einstein has an amazing reputation and a key strength is their attending faculty. Steve Brown has exemplified this trait. During my residency Dr. Brown educated us through formal lectures and hands-on seminars. He further enhanced our educational experience by bringing specially selected private practice patients to the hospital so that we could observe live implant surgeries.

Dr. Brown would exude his enthusiasm for the field of dentistry. In addition he would inquire about our hobbies and other interests. As many of our outside activities were put on hold during dental school it was liberating to think about them again.

After my residency program I began private practice in South Jersey and lived in Philadelphia. I began to see the impact that I. Stephen Brown has made in the dental community and city of Philadelphia. As mentioned Albert Einstein and its attending faculty Steve’s accomplishments would always be discussed. In addition to his position at Einstein he has a successful private practice, a prominent faculty of The University of Pennsylvania Graduate Periodontology program and has developed a thriving study group for esthetic dentistry.

As I matured in private practice I had a desire to educate, both in a residency program and through local study groups. Steve encouraged me at both levels. We discussed how I could make an impact in the residency program and how I could develop a meaningful curriculum for my study group. As I began to develop original formal lectures Steve spent considerable time with me. The constructive criticism that he gave me has been invaluable. He has helped me to not only properly evaluate my work, but also my lectures. Steve was one of the first speakers at my study group. He astonished the participants with his lecture on “Soft Tissue Procedures in the Esthetic Zone”.

The more I know about Steve the more I am impressed. He has built a successful career and also a rich life outside of dentistry. He is a poignant figure in the Philadelphia community and an avid champion of the fine arts, with his wife Pelley. Steve also has two great children that are my age. To his patients the impact on their life is felt every day. For the dental community his greatest impact is the positive effect he has had on us, both in the office and beyond. I hope to have his kind of success.

Steve, thank you.

– Matthew R. Young, DDS

Dear Stephen, aka my perio “grandfather” (since Wagenberg is my perio “father”),

I am so happy to hear from you and looking forward to seeing you again! I still remember the incredible technical skill and pearls of wisdom that you showed me during my time at Einstein. I was lucky enough to have you as my mentor. Back then I was still so unexperienced in perio that I barely scratched the surface of your knowledge. I was just learning the basics and so I missed out on so much more advanced stuff you could have taught me. I recently completed my perio residency at Stony Brook, and now I look back and wish I knew then what I know now… So I could really ask you some good questions and understand better when observing you doing procedures, to learn more from the master.

I am honored that you read my editorial and glad you enjoyed it. I also wrote a case report with Dr. Iacono on Bisphosphonates, in the July/August edition of the same journal. I finished at Stony Brook this past summer and have relocated back to Canada with my wife. It was a wonderful perio residency experience and Dr. Iacono has been extremely good to us. Since he’s Italian, he would fit in as my perio “godfather”. I trust that you are still enjoying a regular skiing schedule during the winter. We had a chance to ski at Blue Mountain during this past New Year’s and had a blast. I miss Pennsylvania and Einstein and your mentorship. Perhaps we could meet up at future meetings or if you are ever in Toronto don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you again.

Sincerely,

– Edy Braun (one of your many perio grandchildren)

To Whom It May Concern;

The intent of this letter is to clearly identify, one of the most influential individuals’ who has greatly impacted my life. Needless to say, I personally believe this mentor has made such a great difference in my life and I feel so honored and privileged to have had this once in a lifetime opportunity.

During the residency program at Albert Einstein Medical Center, I gained a wealth of knowledge that no “student loan” could ever pay for, my experience was priceless. For the most part, a majority of these life- learned skills and lessons of dentistry could only be credited to doctors and mentors, like Dr. I. S. Brown.

As a resident, I can remember there were periods of times during the program that my future goals in the world of dentistry seemed like unobtainable dreams. But after attending either one of Dr. Brown’s lectures or study clubs, my attitude completely changed. Dr. Brown is an amazing speaker. Not only did he touch on all aspects of dentistry, he emphasized how the key to success lied in bringing them sharply into focus, clarifying them and working out a plan to achieve them. Dr. Brown’s persona clearly changed my attitude, as well as the other residents and showed us just how important continuing education is. Dr. Brown believed that with continuing education, you not only learn the essentials, but you gain a thorough understanding of new and revolutionary techniques in our great field of dentistry.

One of these techniques that I learned from Dr. Brown was placing dental implants. I learned everything through Dr. Brown’s clinical procedures, as well as his case presentations. For example, I learned an enormous amount of knowledge about various facets of dentistry like local anesthetics techniques, radio graphic techniques, tissue management, angulation of twist drills, flap management and easier access to the periosteum. With these procedures and cases that Dr. Brown had gratefully shared with us, I became more confident with patients and their conditions throughout the year.

Many professionals would agree, that balancing the needs of a career with finding time for personal commitments can be a challenge, but not for Dr. Brown. With extensive experience of working with residents from a wide array of educational backgrounds, Dr. Brown generously offered his skills, knowledge, and private practice cases with nothing less than an open door policy. Everyone was welcomed and encouraged to take advantage of Dr. Brown’s fundamental assembly, as most of us did. I can clearly confirm that because of Dr. Brown’s dedication and commitment to the residency program at Albert Einstein, I have achieved a sense of true self worth and confidence that will allow me to reach my aspirations and goals of becoming an astounding, successful dentist.

Sincerely Yours,

– Enrique G. Wismann