Kevin Sporici ‘20
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is a well-known location, but also has a connection to our own community at EA. Dr. Holly Hedrick, whose children attend EA, is a pediatric surgeon who has been affiliated with CHOP for many years and has a large role there. As a surgeon, she is very familiar with her specialty, yet her career at CHOP extends outside of the operating room.
Hedrick has been a part of the staff at CHOP for two decades now. “I did the final part of my training at Children’s Hospital”, she says. “I’m a pediatric surgeon and so the last portion is the fellowship. I came to CHOP for that reason and it’s where I decided to stay. Before that, I was in Boston for several years.”
For Hedrick, her journey to her current position began during high school. “I think you can’t be completely sure about where you’ll end up. There were a couple of things that happened for me. Someone gave me an opportunity when I was in high school”, recounts Hedrick. “We did dissections…It just so happened that my lab partner and I were given the cat to do. It was generally considered the special assignment and it was harder to do overall. I was just fascinated by it. I was in 10th grade, my biology teacher saw something special in me.” Hedrick feels a singular event can change the course of someone’s future and said “When someone begins seeing something special in you and believing in you, you suddenly start thinking you can do things that you maybe didn’t realize you could. For me, it was that cat in 10th grade.”
Many associate pediatrics with grade-schoolers, and while small children are seen by pediatricians, these doctors are tasked with treating a much larger age group than many people think. “Our age group of patients actually spans everything from a baby before it’s born, which is fetal surgery, to a kid that’s as old as [us]. We see kids that are 17, 18, or sometimes even 19 years old”, explains Hedrick. With such a large variety of potential patients, it would appear that Hedrick has her work cut out for her. But even then, her routine at the hospital varies from day to day, and though she is a surgeon, she does not spend all her time in an operating room. “We usually devote one day to what we call clinic or outpatient visits, and that’s when you have a whole day of seeing patients, which includes new ones or follow-ups…typically one or two days a week is devoted to the operating room….In addition to all of those days are teachings because we are a teaching hospital so there are residents and fellows and medical students.”
Being a surgeon is generally considered to be among the most stressful jobs to have, and for good reason. When someone really needs it, the pressure is definitely on to perform.
“It’s like a big puzzle,” says Hedrick. “You’re not sure how things are going to turn out. There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it and it’s not just me alone, it’s a whole team. It’s all about preparing for that plan B. You always have that little edge of nervousness until it all works out the way you want it to.”
Hedrick’s passion for her field truly shows in her work, but in her opinion, the greatest sense of satisfaction comes during her patient follow-ups. “With some kids who’ve had previous procedures, we’ll keep seeing them even later when they’re older”, says Hedrick. “That’s a really neat part about my job. We regularly keep up with many of our patients, and it’s very rewarding to see them. You do something that changes the trajectory of their life, you fix them. But then you also get to see them later. It’s not enough to just do the mechanics.”
The EA community is made up of its students and its parents, which is why it is lucky to have someone like Hedrick in it. She contributes much to CHOP and to her field.