Dr. Stephen Mahoney – Hudson-Penn Award for Excellence in Surgery
By Cathy Frisinger
It had never occurred to Dr. Stephen Mahoney to pursue a medical career until the summer following high school graduation. That’s when he participated in a medical mission trip to Guatemala with Refuge International. The group went to the remote village of Sarstun on the river between Belize and Guatemala, reachable only by boat. The Gladewater, Texas, native was assigned to assist with surgery, helping sterilize and lay out the instruments, and even holding retractors for the surgeon.
He’d found his calling.
“Mom used to be a scrub nurse early in her career. She thinks very highly of surgeons and the field of surgery, so she was proud of me for making that decision,” he said.
Dr. Mahoney, 25, returned to Guatemala for a medical missionary trip every year since that first trip and by his second year at UT Southwestern Medical School, Dr. Mahoney organized Refuge Guatemala, persuading a dozen classmates to travel overseas for their own medical mission. Word spread and the past two years, 20 UT Southwestern students have made the trip.
Dr. Mahoney has been honored with the 2015 Hudson-Penn Award for Excellence in Surgery, which recognizes a senior medical student who has demonstrated excellence in the specialty of surgery. The Hudson-Penn Award, established in 1979, is named for Dr. Lee Hudson, Chief of Surgery at Parkland Memorial Hospital when UT Southwestern was founded, and for Robert Penn, Dr. Hudson's brother-in-law. The award recognizes academic achievement, outstanding clinical skills, and a caring attitude toward patients
“It has been a privilege to be involved with Stephen Mahoney’s education,” said Dr. Sergio Huerta, Associate Professor of Surgery, who mentored Dr. Mahoney. “He encompasses all of the characteristics of an outstanding surgeon to be. His academic credentials are impeccable, but most importantly he is a compassionate and humanistic individual who will undoubtedly touch the lives of many patients in need. He has been involved with global health activities from an early age and for several years has been able to create a successful and sustainable student global health initiative at UT Southwestern. It makes me happy that he will be one of our colleagues in surgery.”
Dr. Mahoney will head to the University of North Carolina Hospitals for general surgery residency. In May, he plans to marry classmate Dr. Rachel Hein, who was accepted for a plastic surgery residency at nearby Duke University Medical Center. The couple met on Zero Day, when each came for their introduction to the medical school. Part of the day’s events included a tour of the Dallas Museum of Art, where the two first started talking and where, four years and two medical degrees later, their wedding will take place.
