People around the world may speak in different languages and laugh at different jokes. They may wear different clothing and listen to different music. But they all have one thing in common: their humanity.

“That’s one of the things that attracted me to medicine,” said Dr. Vijay Bindingnavele, a plastic surgeon with a private practice in Corpus Christi. “Having grown up in India and Philadelphia, I had seen a lot of the world, and it seemed as though with medicine, you could learn more about the human body and improve lives in any part of the world. It’s not specific to one location.”

And when Bindingnavele says he’s “been around just a little bit,” he’s not kidding. The Bombay native moved to Philadelphia with his family when he was in middle school and later attended college and medical school at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. He then joined the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps and traveled all over the world during his 10 years of service, completed his training at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, moved to the Texas Coast in 2008 and opened his private practice.

“I was all over the place,” he said. “But when you’re moving with the military, you don’t ever feel like you’re alone because you move with your military family. So, that was a big plus for every place, and I enjoyed them all.”

Bindingnavele is thankful for “the privilege” of performing mostly trauma surgeries for those who serve their country. In fact, he says the military “is something everybody should consider because I think it makes you a better American citizen.”

When it comes to his devotion to service, his military experience was only the beginning. Bindingnavele has since volunteered his time and talents by taking mission trips to underserved locations, such as India and the Philippines, and providing surgical care to people who otherwise wouldn’t get it, he said.

Currently, he serves the Corpus Christi community as chairman of the School Health Advisory Committee, as co-chairman of surgery at CHRISTUS Spohn Health System and as a member of several committees with the Nueces County Medical Society. He also contributes to “Ask the Doctor,” a medical-education segment on KIII-TV.

“We illustrate something that would be of particular interest at the time,” he said. “For example, we’ll talk about injuries at the beach or sun protection at the beginning of spring.”

Although Bindingnavele loves community service and the humanitarian aspects of his practice, he also loves the work itself. General surgery is appealing to him because he enjoys putting his medical knowledge into direct action and getting relatively fast results.

And plastic surgery, Bindingnavele’s specialty, “is the ultimate marriage of form and function,” he said. “It includes the same things other surgical disciplines include, but it adds to it. It’s no longer just about making things work well; it’s about making [them] look good, too. I really enjoy that aspect.”

As with any discipline, however, plastic surgery has its challenges. For Bindingnavele, “it’s being able to put in the hours that are required to learn everything you need to learn. Occasionally when you’re deployed to an austere location in the military, you don’t necessarily have all the high-tech equipment and books you need. “

“You have to perfect your skills as much as possible during your training, so you’re prepared when you go out there and get put to the test. Even out of the military, you’re still dealing with people, so you want to be the best you can and provide the absolute best service. It’s a drive for perfection that’s satisfying, but challenging.”

According to Dr. Robert Fernandez, a plastic surgeon who’s worked with Bindingnavele for about two years, Bindingnavele is more than up to the task.

“[Bindingnavele] is very well trained and extremely personable,” Fernandez said. “Not a lot of surgical practices want to do some of the more challenging reconstructive procedures, but Dr. Vijay looks for those kinds of things. He’s the kind of young physician we need here in Corpus, and we’re lucky someone like him decided to come here.”

Another challenge faced by Bindingnavele is the balancing act between the practice and the home, which “is a difficult situation because you always spend more time in the office,” he said. “But the kids are only young once, and you have to bring them up right, so they can go out and be as good as they can be. You just have to decide how much time you want to set aside for your family, so you’re not being derelict in your duties as a father or husband.”

Despite the challenges, Bindingnavele finds time to spend with his wife and three daughters – ages 1, 3 and 5 – and to enjoy tennis, yoga and general physical fitness. For him, it’s the smiles that make it all worthwhile.

“It’s the smile of the patient at the end of the day,” he said. “It’s the smile of the child when she wakes up in the morning; it’s the smile of your wife when you come home. It’s not just out of gratitude because you did a particular thing; it’s a deeper bond – the smile of an unspoken connection. It makes me feel good.”