Cleveland Clinic surgeon shares expertise with students

About 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer during their lifetimes, and the disease is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among American women. The Cleveland Clinic’s Stephanie Valente, DO, who is the Director of the Western Region Breast and Fairview Hospital Breast Programs, helped raise awareness of cancer care among Magnificat students as she shared her career path at a recent Students in Medicine meeting. The co-curricular regularly brings in speakers from various medical professions to help students explore opportunities in the healthcare industry.

“These types of opportunities set Magnificat High School apart from other schools,” said Camille Begley ’25, a coleader of Students in Medicine who completed her Genesis job shadow experience with Dr. Valente last summer. “The experience I had was truly amazing.”

During her Genesis, Begley sat in on clinic visits when patients gave their consent and gained understanding of how a medical team coordinates care. She was allowed to scrub into an operating room and watch Dr.

Valente perform surgery, review ultrasounds, and observe biopsies. The experience confirmed her interest in medicine and deepened her understanding of what the day to day life of a physician entails as she begins her biology studies at John Carroll University on the premed track.

Andrea Fields, who is the Students in Medicine Moderator and also oversees the Genesis Program, said that guest speakers like Dr. Valente help students envision themselves in various careers. This year the speakers included a physical therapist, a dentist, and employees in the Cleveland Clinic NICU. Students benefited from hearing from female presenters who talked about both their careers and work-life balance.

“I think they got a truer picture of not just what the job was, but also what one’s life would be like,” Fields said.