This month’s article marks the start of a new series, focusing on the different medical professionals on Snell Isle, along with introductions to healthcare careers and medical curiosities that impact our common human experience. I am excited to help share different perspectives about medicine, healthcare professionals’ educational and medical journeys, and interesting medical phenomena.

I recently had the honor and privilege to chat with Dr. Jordan Halsey, a pediatric plastic surgeon at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (JHACH).  How fortunate we are to have right here in St. Petersburg, JHACH, the best children’s hospital in Florida and a nationally ranked children’s hospital in eight specialties, according to USNews.com. 

Dr. Halsey’s journey that landed her at JHACH was difficult, but worth it.  She has always had an affinity for surgery, but found pediatric plastic surgery especially interesting. 

To get there, after 4 years of college, Dr. Halsey attended medical school for another 4 years, then she completed 6 years of residency, and a final year for her fellowship. That’s 15 years after high school! Her undergraduate degree from Lee University is in biochemistry. She earned her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Tennessee HSC College of Medicine. Her residency at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School focused on integrated plastic surgery. Her fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Ohio State University, allowed her to concentrate on pediatric plastic and craniofacial surgery. Whew!

These years of schooling were filled with tests. No one in Dr. Halsey’s family was in medicine, so she had to pave her own path. Additionally, it was a challenge to find programs that specialized in pediatric plastic surgery because there aren't many, and it is a very competitive field. Although her journey was extremely difficult, she persevered and now loves her job! Dr. Halsey has been in practice since 2021 as a pediatric craniofacial surgeon.

So, what does her job entail exactly? In addition to her regular hours, Dr. Halsey is “on call” once every 4 weeks. To be on call means that you are available to be called into work at any time. She is one of the very few pediatric surgeons in Florida, so she is very busy!

Dr. Halsey performs both medically necessary and cosmetic surgeries. She usually helps kids who have suffered sports injuries, accidents, or dog bites. Dr. Halsey feels that her job is very rewarding because she helps kids feel confident. That said, Dr. Halsey also faces some challenges. For example, sometimes she is very self critical about her work, or sometimes a parent disagrees with her. Public service announcement: always be appreciative towards your doctors!

Dr. Halsey has a particular interest in speech-related surgery. Craniofacial abnormalities can affect articulation, resonance, and clarity of speech. She finds helping kids with speech issues to be very gratifying because speech is an important part of life, and she helps kids find their voices. 

    

Lots of preparation goes into Dr. Halsey’s surgeries. She has to do substantial preoperative planning, in addition to lots of collaboration with other doctors. Nothing about her job is easy as every single case is different and pretty complex.

As if she weren’t busy enough, Dr. Halsey is also involved in several ongoing clinical trials.  According to their website, JHACH believes that clinical research is critical to improving care for people in our community and around the world.