TOP DOCTORS 2024: Urology Q&A

Dr. Jennifer L. Young, urologist, The Urology Group, Lansdowne; chair of the Department of Surgery and vice president of medical staff, Inova Loudoun Hospital, Leesburg

Other medical specialties: Minimally invasive da Vinci robotic surgery, oncology — specifically prostate, kidney and bladder cancer

Education: Bachelor’s degree, Cornell University; medical degree, State University of New York Upstate Medical University at Syracuse; internship, University of California at San Francisco; residency, University of California at Irvine

Family: My husband works in pharmaceutical consulting. My son enjoys swimming and basketball. My daughter enjoys taekwondo, swimming and Girl Scouts.

Career mentors: Dr. Walt O’Brien, retired from The Urology Group, and Dr. Kevin O’Connor, The Urology Group managing partner and chair of Loudoun Medical Group

First job: Driver, costume manager and roasting chestnuts for Dickens Christmas in Skaneateles, New York

What interested you about urology? Urology was on my last rotation in medical school. I was amazed we could put a camera in the bladder with the patient awake and examine the inside of the bladder. I thought it was amazing we could watch jets of urine squirt down from the kidney tube during this procedure. I thought bladder tumors were, in a way, beautiful. They reminded me of sea coral.

How does robotic surgery benefit your patients compared with traditional surgery? Robotic minimally invasive surgery is my passion. When I was in medical school, prostate removal involved an open incision, liters of blood loss and five-day hospitalization. Now, with robotic surgery and Enhanced Recovery After Surgery protocol, I send my prostate cancer patients home the day of surgery.

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Read the 2024 Urology Top Doctors list.