New Doctor Closes Practice Early : Reservist: San Clemente orthopedic surgeon, specialist in chemical and desert warfare, called to active duty at Camp Pendleton.

Dr. Edward H. Bestard, an orthopedic surgeon, opened his medical practice in San Clemente last month--the same week that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

“He and I were sort of starting our own businesses together,” Bestard joked Saturday, as he filled out green and white forms at the Navy Reserve Center in Tustin.

Bestard, 37, a lieutenant commander in the naval reserves, was one of a contingent of private physicians who were ordered to active duty in the wake of personnel shortages resulting from the Middle East crisis.

The phone call that came at 2 a.m. ordering Bestard to report to the reserve center was not unexpected, he said.

Since joining the Navy reserves in 1983, Bestard has become a specialist in chemical and desert warfare and is an expert in treating bones fractured by gunshot wounds.

“They took one look at my record, I guess,” he said, “and it didn’t take them long to find me.”

With orders to report to Camp Pendleton on Wednesday, Bestard wondered aloud how the next 90 days as an active duty naval officer will affect his family’s life.

For several weeks, he said, he and his wife, Tanya, have been pensive, almost fidgety, about the possibility that he would have to give up the private practice he just started for long shifts in the military hospital.

He said he has been assured that he will remain at the base and will be allowed to live at home in nearby San Clemente while on active duty.

“It won’t be so horrible,” he said.

But while emphasizing that he is ready to serve his country, Bestard said that he is worried about the financial strain the call-up will have on his family and business.

“I am going to lose a lot of money,” he said, adding that his wife was badly shaken by the early morning phone call that startled both of them out of a deep sleep.

“She’s upset for sure,” he said. “She’s mostly afraid of me being deployed (to Saudi Arabia) more than anything else.”

Ironically, Bestard said that he had been thinking lately of quitting the reserves, but had put the thoughts aside while concentrating on getting his practice off the ground.

After completing his residency at UCI Medical Center in Orange this summer, Bestard entered a partnership in the beach community where he lives. He now works out of five South Orange County hospitals.

A graduate of USC Medical School, Bestard decided to enter the Navy in 1983 because he wanted to “consider several options.”

His commitment to the reserves expired last year, but he continued to remain in the service. “I knew I should have gotten out,” he said. “My friends have been kidding me about when I’m going.”

Bestard said he will take his wife to a Hollywood Bowl jazz concert and a romantic dinner to try to get their minds off the months ahead. His weekend will also be spent concentrating on tying up loose ends, especially if he eventually is transferred out of Camp Pendleton, which he expects if combat breaks out in the Saudi Arabian desert.

“We should go in there and kick some butt and get this over with,” he said. “It’s the only way to end the stalemate.”

But when it’s all over, he added quickly, “I’m definitely going to get out.”