Stephanie Caterson, MD ’99, RES ’04
Career-wise, where has life taken you? Is it what you expected to do when you were a student, or did you change your trajectory sometime in medical school or afterward? If so, what inspired you to change? Did you take an interesting path to where you are now, and if so, what was that path?
SC: When I arrived at Jefferson in 1995, I had a singular objective—to become an astronaut. I have a BS and an MS in aerospace engineering and applied to medical school to continue my space-bound career path. I had a surgical mindset, thriving in the OR’s intense environment. My goal was to participate in long-range space flight, and a general surgery residency would be a strong asset to my astronaut application.
Engineering and plastic surgery share many principles, and it was a natural fit. I was fortunate to meet three Jefferson plastic surgeons who changed my life. Participating on the surgical team for an autologous breast reconstruction solidified my interests, and I applied for a general surgery residency. When I applied for a plastic surgery fellowship, I also planned to apply to the astronaut program, keeping my options open. Two months before the fellowship application was due, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on its return to Earth. The astronaut training program closed. I pursued a plastic surgery fellowship at the Lahey Clinic, followed by a microsurgery fellowship at Harvard.
After my fellowships, I joined Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. I was the first to perform complex free flap breast reconstruction there and created a breast microsurgery program. I worked there for over 12 years and performed over 1,500 breast free flaps. Our program grew to include over 15 surgeons. In 2019, I relocated to Wilmington, Delaware, when my husband, EJ Caterson, MD ’03, PhD, became chief of pediatric plastic surgery at AI DuPont Children’s Hospital. I joined Christiana Care Hospital and work at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Institute, where I am developing a comprehensive breast reconstruction program. When I moved here, I was the only microsurgeon in the state. Offering complex cases allows patients to stay in Delaware for their care.
How did your Jefferson education help you achieve your goals as a physician?
SC: I will forever be grateful for my Jefferson education. Jefferson taught me to always be patient-centric, instilling guiding principles that I use daily: to make clinical recommendations based on what is safest for the patient and to always maintain my intellectual curiosity. These make me the clinician I am today.
What is your fondest memory of your medical school and training days?
SC: As a general surgery intern, I had a patient on my service with aggressive breast cancer. She was suffering but always looked at the bright side. One day, she asked me if I had plans for Halloween. I told her that there was a resident Halloween party, but I was too tired to find a costume. The next day, I was paged to her room. I rushed there, expecting the worst. Instead, I arrived to find her with bags of costumes her husband had brought from home. She insisted I pick out my favorite and go to the party in her honor. Halloween was her favorite holiday. I went to the party as a fairy godmother and spent an hour the next day sharing the details as she laughed and smiled. She didn’t have a chance to celebrate another Halloween. She taught me to make the most of every opportunity and to embrace the chances you have because you never know if they will come again. She remains one of my fondest memories.