Dr. Schendel graduated from the University of Minnesota Dental School in 1973. Following this, he completed a four-year residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Southwestern Medical School, Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. 1979 to 1980 was spent in France as a Fullbright Fellow at the University of Nantes. The emphasis of this study was cleft lip and palate surgery and dentofacial orthopedics, both under the tutelage of Dr. Jean Delaire.

Dr. Schendel then practiced Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Honolulu, Hawaii, and graduated from the University of Hawaii Medical school in 1983. He then completed a General Surgery internship at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. He completed an additional two years of General Surgery training at Stanford University Medical Center, followed by completion of the Plastic Surgery training program at Stanford. 1987 to 1988 he spent as an assistant to Dr. Paul Tessier in Paris, France, and also was recipient of a chateaubriand French Research Fellowship. He has been on the full-time faculty of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University Medical School since 1989.

He is Professor and Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. He is also Chief of Plastic Surgery at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital, Head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery and Director of the Craniofacial Surgery Program at this hospital. He is also Chainrman of the Department of Functional Restoration and Co-Founder and Director of Stanford-NASA National Biocomputation Center.

Dr. Schendel's main surgical interests are craniofacial and maxillofacial surgery, including facial cosmetic surgery. He is board-certified in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Plastic Surgery, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgerons and a Fellow in the AMerican Academy of Pediactrics.