The Garnes Society is excited to spotlight Dr. Kerri Woodberry, Associate Professor, Chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery and Residency Program Director at West Virginia University.
We had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Woodberry as she discussed her motivations, triumphs, and lessons learned throughout her career in private and academic medicine. A recurrent theme throughout our conversation was an unyielding commitment to family and hard work.
Foundations and Formative Experiences
Dr. Woodberry has fond memories of time spent on the campus of Tennessee State University where her parents taught. Her childhood home was near Meharry Medical College and Black physicians were a matter-of-course part of the community. Dr. Woodberry grew up surrounded by scientists, university faculty, and physicians who looked like her. She was encouraged to learn, be curious, and work hard toward her dreams.
She was eight years old when an emergency led her to dedicate her life to medicine. It was an era in medicine when a ruptured appendix carried an increased risk of death. She credited the care and skill of her surgeon for saving her life. However, a painful part of the ordeal wasn’t physical. After waiting hours at a local emergency room, her father realized the need to drive across town to a different hospital. Later, she would understand the pervasive and bitter nature of health care disparities from a personal perspective.
Dr. Woodberry remembered her first steps in medicine with a smile. She recalled her early exposure to medicine through her high school Explorers Club Medical Post and her experiences in the anatomy lab during the Pre-Medical Enrichment Program at the University of Tennessee. Her parents and teachers were a source of steadfast encouragement.
A scholarship helped her pursue her undergraduate studies in Chemistry and Math at Vanderbilt University. She attended medical school at Johns Hopkins where she studied under the same professors who authored her textbooks. It was life-changing to learn from giants in medicine. Despite their professional stature, she describes her faculty as gifted and humble.
Dr. Woodberry shared that leaving Nashville and learning from legends had personal challenges. She had been surrounded by role models from her earliest years. However, there were moments of doubt and a sense of imposter syndrome. Education, achievement, purpose, and strong family connections helped her stay the course. She shared the best advice she received from a mentor: “You are where you are meant to be. God put you here for a reason. And God doesn’t make mistakes.” She held on to that advice and never looked back.
Professional Pathways
Dr. Woodberry enjoys puzzles, so early on, Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery seemed like a good fit. That was the plan until her intern year in General Surgery. She scrubbed in one morning with plans to become a Pediatric Orthopedist, but by the end of a breast reduction case, she knew that her future was in Plastic Surgery.
Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, MD was a Regional Hand Trauma center, so Dr. Woodberry was exposed to severe hand injuries during her five years of General Surgery Residency. “I watched in amazement as leeches were used to help with replanted digits.” Hand Surgery fascinated her. It was the perfect balance between the puzzles of Orthopedics and the finesse of Plastic Surgery. She became the first Black graduate from her General Surgery residency at Union Memorial. She had grown up surrounded by Black physicians, but when it was time for her to claim her space in the profession, she had to be her own lead.
A Plastic Surgery Residency at Ohio State University followed her time at Union Memorial, and she buttressed those skills with a year of Orthopedic Hand Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to being a Black physician, she was female and planning a family. She felt that she had to outperform expectations everywhere she trained. One most respected mentor told her “that I had to choose between surgery and family- I could not have both.”
Therefore, spoken and unspoken messages influenced her decision to start her orthopedic fellowship suppressing the excitement of the birth of her first child just four weeks earlier. Her faculty was supportive, but she wanted to be known for her work ethic and the caliber of her performance.
Dr. Woodberry accepted a faculty position at St. Louis University. As Hand Section Chief, she primarily did Hand Surgery and Microsurgery, and over the next 6 years, she would serve in a role as Assistant to the Program Director. She credits the Program Director for providing invaluable experiences in academia at such an early point in her career.
However, when he offered her the Program Director Position, Dr. Woodberry respectfully declined. Her family’s support had launched and sustained her through early challenges. She found herself at a juncture to evaluate her values. She wanted her daughters to grow up with strong family bonds. It was time to move closer to her family in Nashville.
Balancing Family, Career, and Aspiration
The next few years would be busy, challenging, and exciting. Dr. Woodberry was mother to three daughters by this time–aged three, five, and seven. Back in Nashville, she joined a multispecialty group, where she was one of two plastic surgeons. This gave her the opportunity to expand her practice to include not only hand but also breast and cosmetic surgery. She also returned to Vanderbilt to complete her Executive MBA and grasp a better understanding of the business aspects of medicine. Prepared with this knowledge, Dr. Woodberry opened her own practice.
More than just ambition, the transition was driven by the needs of her family.
As her girls became more active in school and extracurricular activities, she saw opening her own practice as an opportunity to gain more autonomy over her schedule to create a better work-life balance. She catered her schedule to accommodate cheering for them at basketball, lacrosse, and soccer games.
After her daughters completed high school, Dr. Woodberry directed her talent for teaching back to academic medicine. She joined the faculty of West Virginia University as Division Chief of Plastic Surgery. Skills from her MBA program and experiences from private practice proved vital, and shortly after, she assumed the role of Program Director.
Morgantown, West Virginia, was a pleasant surprise. The community was welcoming, and she felt at home among the mountains and with her patients and colleagues. She admits that throughout her career, her patients have sometimes been shocked when she walks into the room, but this only motivates her to perform to her usual level of excellence. “No matter the race, gender, or the socioeconomic status of a patient, we must always provide the very best care.” Her commitment allows nothing less. It’s just one of the many ways she works to break down the inequities in medicine.
Leading West Virginia University’s Plastic Surgery Program excites Dr. Woodberry. She described the WVU plastic surgery program as a hidden gem in the Appalachian Mountains. “There are over 1.8 million people in West Virginia, and we provide high-quality services for our patients. Our residency provides an opportunity to make a difference in the community through patient care, education, and research. We accept one resident per year in our solely integrated program.” Residents get exposure to general plastic surgery, reconstructive, cosmetics, pediatric, hand, microsurgery, and global health.
For Dr. Woodberry, the mission is personal. “As a plastic surgeon, a Program Director, and Division Chief, my goal is to be an example for others who want to be leaders in Plastic Surgery and who are looking for role models. I enjoy talking to students, residents, and faculty who are seeking advice.” Personal relationships and her commitment to excellence have been bedrock principles throughout her career. By working hard and maintaining healthy relationships, the sky is the limit as to what can be achieved.
It was a profound privilege to interview a present-day legend and personal hero. Her final words of the interview could be summarized as: I never felt a need to make myself small. I am exactly where I am meant to be, and my excitement grows as I go to national meetings and see young men and women making major impacts in Healthcare.
Garnes Society would like to thank student-doctor Shenika Zarebski and Dr. Woodberry for sharing this living history. We are inspired and honored by the professional standard, personal clarity and tenacity that Dr. Woodberry models. She is an inspiration and we are proud to present her experience.