Paulette C. Dreher, D.O.

Center for Urologic Care of Berks County

The Berks County Medical Society is delighted to welcome Dr. Paulette Dreher to our ranks, and to the larger community she now serves. Dr. Dreher received a Bachelor of Arts in Latin and Ancient Greek from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, where she was a member of the Eta Sigma Phi Honors Society and the Delphic Society for scholar athletes. While at F&M she was a member of the 2007 and 2009 National Champions Women’s Lacrosse Team, and an All-American in both Field Hockey and Lacrosse.

Dr. Dreher earned her medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she was awarded the Leonard H. Finkelstein, DO, Urology Scholarship. After a PGY-1 year in General Surgery at Hahnemann University Hospital she completed a residency in Urology at Main Line Health-Lankenau Medical Center/Bryn Mawr Hospital in Wynnewood, PA. She pursued additional training in Pediatric Urology at Alfred I. DuPont/Nemours Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware and in Urologic Oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York. During her training, Dr. Dreher was an active member of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, serving as Chair of the Residents Section.

Dr. Dreher has had numerous publications, as well as presentations at national and international conferences. She is a member of the American Urologic Association, American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, Society for Women in Surgery, and Philadelphia Urologic Society.

To get to know Dr. Dreher better, we asked her a few questions:

Describe the focus of your practice and any areas of special interest/ expertise.

- Interest in general urology, including BPH, kidney stones, erectile dysfunction, kidney, bladder and prostate cancer, incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse

- Robotic procedures: Nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, Radical prostatectomies and simple prostate, Robotic Sacro colpopexy

- Particular interest in BPH performing Urolift, TURP, and robotic simple prostatectomy and female pelvic floor procedures (cystocele, rectocele, apical suspension, slings and urethral bulking)

What has brought you to Berks County?

My husband and I both attended Franklin & Marshall college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and enjoyed the culture of central PA. We really fell in love with the Berks community when we visited, with its access to outdoors. My current practice with CUCB really drew us back to the area. The group is talented and supportive and has allowed me to feel comfortable as I begin to build my patient population, develop my own practice patterns, and continue to be a lifelong learner. I had the benefit of training as a junior resident under CUCB member Dr. Daniel Edwards, and to now be able to continue to learn from him is tremendously valuable as a new attending physician.

What do you like best about practicing medicine?

A job well done. While it is easy to find gratification when treating a malignancy, there is another sense of gratification achieved when you treat someone for their benign entity and dramatically improve their quality of life (eg: BPH symptoms, prolapse, or pelvic pain, to name a few). Moreover, I find it most satisfying when a patient receives good care from nursing, support staff, and everyone else involved as they undergo surgery and recovery. I recently had a patient state, “You did good, doc!” and really, it cannot get better than that.

If you could change one thing about the current practice environment, what would it be?

I find it frustrating when insurance issues/cost is a barrier to patient care. I hope that we are able to find a balance of appropriate physician compensation while not burdening the patient.

Please tell us a little about your family and the activities you enjoy outside of work.

- Married to my husband of 8 years, who is a Primary Care Sports Medicine Physician. Previously he was out of Johns Hopkins and now works with Penn Medicine/LGH. We have 2 kids – Nora (3 years) and Nathaniel (11 months) – and Cooper (dog, lab mutt, 3 years).

- We enjoy hiking and have been getting to try many of the trails and park systems that Berks County has to offer, throughout the beautiful fall foliage season.

- We cheer on the F&M Diplomats, specifically Men’s Soccer and Women’s Lacrosse and Field Hockey (our alma mater teams).

- I am a native of Pittsburgh and a true to black-and-gold -Steelers fan, Penguins, and Pirates.

- Nora and Nate love playing in the creek in Wyomissing, along with their dog.