Posted on April 4, 2018 in Provider of the Month
We are proud of our providers and the fantastic work they do in our community. Throughout 2018, we’ll continue to feature interviews starting from our newest provider about life outside of the office.
Betsy Stratton, PA-C, is our April 2018 Provider of the Month. Betsy has been with SERO Group since June 2015 and sees patients at Levine Cancer Institute at Carolinas Medical Center.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, and moved to North Carolina for a job opportunity after graduating from PA school. I told my friends and family I’d be back in a year, but I met my husband, Seth, a month after I arrived, and that was more than 8 years ago! Seth is originally from Michigan but moved to North Carolina to attend Appalachian State University, and never left. He works for Atrium Health in the internal communications department. Together we moved to Charlotte, adopted a dog, got married in 2013, and had our daughter, Ellie, 18 months ago. Our lives look a little different these days, but we wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I’m thankful every day I didn’t move back to Pittsburgh! The winters are better here, too.
When we aren’t working, we love to spend time together as a family, have dance parties in the kitchen, hang out at Lake Norman with friends, and travel to the beach. In our house, we cheer on the Carolina Panthers, the App State Mountaineers and the Penn State Nittany Lions. We are working on making Hilton Head Island our annual family vacation destination, and love to visit Hawaii.. we went to Maui in 2016 and had to represent the Panthers on top of Mount Haleakala after they won the NFC Championship!
My mother is a nurse, and introduced me to the medical profession at an early age. I remember being fascinated with the entire profession, and have early memories of reading Gray’s Anatomy (the medical text, not the TV show!) and watching surgery videos. As I was contemplating Medical School, my mother recommended that I consider becoming a Physician Assistant, which would allow me flexibility within the field. I worked in Emergency Medicine for 6 years but took a job with SERO in 2015 and haven’t looked back. I feel honored to help patients through some of their most difficult times and enjoy forming relationships with them.
I did a Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery rotation in PA school and assisted in a pediatric hearttransplant for a one year old baby who had congenital heart disease and had been on ECMO for many months. It was such a privilege to scrub in on that case and witness the moment his new heart started beating. I saw him several months later in my neighborhood on a walk with his parents!
My very first job was as a hostess at Eat N’ Park, which is a local chain of diners in the Pittsburgh area. I was also in charge of making smiley cookies, and may have “accidentally” ruined the frosting on more than one.
I have seen every episode of Friends and you can often find me quoting it! One of my proudest moments was when my husband began referencing the show in our every day life. I’m also not ashamed to say that the Bachelor franchise is entertaining and my not-so-guilty pleasure.
