Dr. Virginia Von Schaefer, MD

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Get to know General Surgeon Dr. Virginia Von Schaefer, who serves patients in Laguna Beach, California.

An experienced physician, Dr. Von Schaefer has practiced medicine and surgery for over 25 years. She is now a retired general, vascular and trauma surgeon who has been providing bio-integrative consultations to patients of all ages in a variety of clinical settings.

Her passion is utilizing the basic principles of cell biology and biochemistry to solve medical problems. Her focus is to evaluate and treat the whole person, taking into account the mind, body, and spirit connection to restore biochemical balance. Her goal is to provide the most comprehensive and effective plan to solve patients’ medical problems.

“I rely on more than 30 years of clinical experience in general and trauma surgery, endocrinology, and oncology to create strategies to solve our patients’ complex medical problems. Continued study and shared knowledge with colleagues, makes it possible to evaluate and integrate the ever evolving, new advances for optimal patient care” expressed Dr. Von Schaefer.

Academically, she came to study medicine after her first pregnancy turned out to be a tumor, resulting in a septic delivery of a possibly cancerous growth. The experience of this event opened her eyes to the practice of medicine and motivated her to quit her job, return to school to study science and prepare to go to medical school.

To that end, Dr. Von Schaefer attended Columbia University and majored in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the height of new discoveries in cellular anatomy and physiology. She had her first child as a “pre-med” and was the first woman with a child to be accepted to the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons Medical School. Her second child was born during medical school and her next three children were born during internships in both internal medicine and surgery.

Subsequently, she completed surgical training at an affiliate of Cornell University, specializing in trauma surgery and came to California in 1994 to complete a fellowship in vascular surgery at Harbor UCLA. 

One year after completing the program, Dr. Von Schaefer sustained a total spinal cord contusion at C4 and C5 and had to stop actively practicing surgery. In the process of her recovery, she turned back to her original passion, cell biology and biochemistry. With new inspiration and insight, she explored the world of metabolic treatment using the principles of biochemistry, endocrinology and nutrition for problem solving.

General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and other body systems. A general surgeon performs a wide range of surgeries for many forms of intestinal and abdominal wall neoplasms, gallbladder disease, gastric and biliary disease. They follow the patient through critical care and surgical recovery all the way to outpatient care.

In her free time, Dr. Von Schaefer enjoys spending time with her children and three Italian greyhounds, gardening, cooking and writing.

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