Dr. Edgar J. Schoen (born 1925 in New York) is an American physician, who works as a Clinical Professor in Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and held the position of Chair of the 1989 American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Circumcision.
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Dr. Schoen holds positions at Children's Hospital of the East Bay in Oakland, CA, and the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, CA and is Board-certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology, and has practiced Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology in Oakland, CA for 46 years. Dr. Schoen was Chief of Pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland for 24 years.
Schoen currently maintains Medicirc.org, an online resource in which he discusses what he perceives as benefits of circumcision. Interviewed in the Eastbay Express (2000), he states, "Circumcision is one of the best health insurance policies you can give a son. A circumcised boy has a lifetime advantage over an uncircumcised one."[1]
Schoen's most recent book Edgar Schoen, MD on Circumcision is described by its publisher as a medically authoritative book on circumcision. Dr. Schoen has also written verses about circumcision in the American Journal of Diseases in Children (1987)[1][2]
In a Boston Globe article, Dr. Schoen says, concerning the AAP's decision to not advocate circumcision, "It’s highly biased".[2]. The 1989 report he oversaw stated that circumcision reduced the risks of urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases.[3]
Dr. Schoen has been critical of genital integrity organizations, saying that they have been a misguided influence on parents.[4]
Dr Schoen's peer-reviewed articles have also received some criticism.[5][6]