He graduated with Honors from Stanford University and has had varied training, practice, and teaching experience over 49+ years in the U.S. and abroad. Other training sites were U AZ, NIH, UCLA, UCI, U KY, Dartmouth, U KS, UMDNJ, and Dr. Mohs (published with him, also). Beyond standard training residencies, he has had formal fellowships in hand/wrist surgery (orthopedic/plastic), cutaneous oncology (Mohs surgery), and tropical dermatology.

He was the founder and chief of a hospital dermatology service, as a civilian contractor in the Saudi Arabian Air Force at an airbase hospital near the Iraq-Iran active war theater from 1981 – 1984. He established the first unit for Mohs surgery in Saudi Arabia. He is bilingual in Spanish (written and spoken) and speaks portions of other languages.

He is a member of two hospital staffs in Sonoma County, CA and also has an active medical license in Arizona. His professional memberships are in the American groups: Society of Plastic Surgeons and Academy of Dermatology. He was on the Advisory Panel to the Board of Directors of Interface, Inc., a group devoted to treating on a charity basis international plastic surgery cases, mostly pediatric, at least three times per year, for over a dozen years.

His interests, publications (19), lectures (>100), and awards (6) include those in patient education, patient satisfaction, telemedicine, medical nutrition and reconstruction of birth defects at international locations (Mexico, Venezuela, Philippines). Most recently, he was named as a Top Doc by vote of local medical peers (regional physicians) in Pasadena, CA. At this point in time, he plans for ten more years of practice.

Dr. Kivett’s practice mission is that of excellent and satisfying patient experiences, compassionate bedside manner, and gratifying colleague and staff relationships.

Current projects

Dr. Kivett is developing patient education and informed consent multi-media presentations for surgery procedures, and refining work process protocols for medical and surgical assistants (histories, orders, EMR, billing). He is a member of two local hospital staffs and also has a medical license in Arizona.

In partnership with Interface Kids Plastic Surgery Group, Dr. Kivett traveled to Mexico 3-4 times a year to provide pro-bono work to underserved communities. After pro bono work was paused due to COVID-19-related travel concerns, Dr. Kivett resumed his visits to Mexico in early 2023. Interface Plastic Surgery group travels to Mexico 3-4 times yearly to provide pro-bono work to underserved communities. During these trips, Dr. Kivett performed a variety of surgeries, including craniofacial care (such as cleft lip and palate repairs) and birth/trauma defects of the hand. In his entire career, he has had nearly 30 worldwide trips thus far.