Sarah Kennedy, MD
Dr. Sarah Kennedy is a native Floridian, having grown up in Ormond Beach, Florida and is excited to be moving back to the South. Although she started life wanting to be a dolphin trainer, luckily for us, as she grew older she found a passion for medicine after her mother suffered a life-threatening illness.
An early interest in being a physician allowed Dr. Kennedy to focus her educational efforts. In high school, Dr. Kennedy spent weekends shadowing general, cardiothoracic and plastic surgeons, which is where she realized that she loved the operating room and using her hands. From that time on, every decision was made with a singular goal in mind—to become a surgeon. After graduating Valedictorian, she matriculated to Vanderbilt University where she double majored in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health and Society, providing a deep and rich understanding of the biological, sociological, cultural and economic factors that impact health outcomes. She excelled at Vandy and was inducted into two national honors societies, Omicron Delta Kappa and the Order of Omega.
A four-year institutional scholarship returned her home to Florida and the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. During her early academic years in medical school, she was recognized with several academic awards including the Faculty Choice Award, the Excellence in Clinical Skills Award and the Academic Excellence Award. While in her clinical rotations, Dr. Kennedy’s professors continued to recognize her outstanding performance with additional honors including the Outstanding Senior Award for both Internal Medicine and Neurology. In her final year, she was awarded the Florida Board of Medicine Chairman’s Medical Student Recognition Award and was inducted early into two prestigious national medical honor societies, Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism Honor Society. Dr. Kennedy graduated at the top of her class and was awarded the UCF College of Medicine Dean’s Award at graduation.
Following medical school, Dr. Kennedy matched into one of the top plastic surgery training programs in the U.S, The University of Michigan. At Michigan, Dr. Kennedy completed a rigorous six-year integrated training program whose focus is on all aspects of complex plastic and reconstructive surgery. During her time at Michigan, she presented at national meetings and had numerous articles published focusing on breast surgery and was honored with the Michigan Plastic Surgery MacNguyen Research Fund Recipient for her work evaluating breast reconstruction outcomes among underserved women in sub-Saharan Africa.
Fortunately for her patients, Dr. Kennedy is as personable as she is smart! A testament to her bedside manner and interpersonal skills is the numerous recognitions she received from the hospital staff, such as the “Making a Difference” award, and teaching awards from the medical students.
Lastly, she ended her surgical residency with the honor of being chosen as the Administrative Chief Resident, leading her fellow residents and working closely with the attending surgeons to enhance patient care while efficiently organizing the training program. For all of her awards, experience and achievements in academia, Dr. Kennedy insists there is no better feeling than seeing the smile on a patient’s face after unveiling their surgical results.
Dr. Kennedy, along with her husband Tom and their baby boy, are super excited to be moving to Atlanta where she will be back in the South again and close to her family. She is thrilled to be joining Dr. Alderman, Dr. Joiner and the NAPS team!