Breast Reconstructive Surgeons’ Partnership Has Roots in Their Mentor-Mentee Past
By Paul J. Watkins
Lauren Whipple, MD, is a microsurgeon at PRMA Plastic Surgery in San Antonio. PRMA is a member of the Advanced Reconstructive Surgery Alliance (ARSA), the nation’s largest private network of reconstructive surgical experts designed to advance access to life-changing microsurgical care. Dr. Whipple is board-certified in plastic and reconstructive surgery and served her residency at Albany Medical Center in her hometown of Albany, New York. That’s where she met her future mentor, Courtney Carpenter, MD.
“I was there as a fellow,” says Dr. Carpenter, also a microsurgeon at PRMA, who’s board-certified in plastic and reconstructive surgery. “I went away for a year to do a second fellowship in Atlanta. I came back in 2016 to become faculty at Albany Medical Center. Dr. Whipple had started her plastics residency the year before, so when I returned, she was a second-year resident. I was with her throughout the rest of her training.”
Women in medicine often encounter challenges that their male counterparts usually don’t face. Dr. Whipple says she learned to deal with those challenges by watching her mentor. “Dr. Carpenter showed me how to be a strong leader and teacher while also being very respectful and gaining respect from my peers, and doing it in a way that wasn’t overbearing. Sometimes, people can get the wrong idea about women being strong, and Dr. Carpenter did it in a way that really inspired me, and I tried to model myself on that.”
“I tried my hardest to be supportive of everyone in the residency, but especially the females,” recalls Dr. Carpenter. “I wanted them to know that they’re just as good as the men. We often take on more roles at home, so I wanted them to know that they can have lives in addition to work.”
Over the years, the surgeons pursued different opportunities in their specialty, but they remained in touch. Eventually, their respective career paths converged at PRMA. “I was in the process of looking for a job,” Dr. Whipple remembers. “I was about to sign on to a job at an academic institution in Albany that did not fit what I was looking for, but it was home. I considered a job at PRMA, and it really looked like a unicorn group where you were able to do microsurgery and collaborate in a private surgery setting with partners, which is rare. Dr. Carpenter was the one who helped me see that this was an amazing opportunity, and I shouldn’t turn it down. So, I accepted the job here.”
In time, Dr. Carpenter took a job in Minnesota, but she became very unhappy there. “Dr. Whipple knew that, and she said to me, ‘My practice is awesome. You should come down and see what it’s like here.’ So, I did, and I joined PRMA. I’ve joked that the master plan was that I’d recommend Dr. Whipple to this job, knowing that in the future, she would recruit me, and we would work together.”
Dr. Carpenter adds that she’s grown as a mentor and surgeon through her relationship with Dr. Whipple. “She taught me so much when she was a resident and we were working together in Albany. Then, she went to a fantastic fellowship in Philadelphia and learned a ton of things. Now, we’re working together, and she’s teaching me her tips and tricks. So, who’s the mentor and who’s the mentee?”
PRMA Plastic Surgery is highly focused on breast cancer survivors. Both Dr. Whipple and Dr. Carpenter are performing some of the country’s most complex breast reconstruction procedures, including over 1,000 DIEP flaps a year. The DIEP (deep inferior epigastric perforator) flap procedure allows for breast reconstruction at the time of mastectomy.
“We transplant tissue, fat, and blood vessels from the woman’s lower belly to her chest and connect them to a new blood supply,” explains Dr. Whipple. “When she wakes up after a mastectomy, she has new breast volume and shape. Unlike with the older TRAM flap, we don’t transplant much muscle, so we leave all of the core strength of the abdomen untouched.”
“Even if you think you may not be a candidate,” emphasizes Dr. Carpenter, “it’s still worth having a consultation with a reconstructive surgeon and evaluating your options.”
As the only female surgeons working alongside eight male partners at PRMA, Drs. Carpenter and Whipple have excelled in a male-dominated surgical subspecialty. They offer advice to young women who may be considering a career in medicine. “I give the advice that Dr. Carpenter gave me, which is that you really can have it all,” shares Dr. Whipple. “She really urged me to consider having a baby in residency, even though I was in a hard training process. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely doable and definitely worth it.”
“I’m a firm believer that if you want to do something, you can do it,” concludes Dr. Carpenter. “If a young woman truly wants to go into medicine, she should, and it’s not at the expense of having anything else she wants in life, including a family. She might have to alter some things, but everything is doable, and if she finds a great mentor, that’s helpful.”
Please call (210) 571-1060 or send an email to marketing@prmaplasticsurgery.com to schedule an appointment.
