Kaitlyn Crossan

Kaitlyn Crossan was a three-sport athlete at Dunkirk High School and the class of 2011 valedictorian.

She earned the Younghans-Mirabell Scholarship to the State University of New York at Fredonia where she studied biology. She was a Chancellor’s award winner in their class of 2015 and graduated Suma Cum Laude with a BS in biology. On May 31, she graduated from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) as a physician.

“My years at Fredonia were really good,” Crossan told the OBSERVER. “I did a lot in the time I was there, including research and playing softball.”

One of the research projects she did was studying forested wetlands and the effects of the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive species. She also worked in pediatrics at Strong Memorial Hospital through the University of Rochester Medical School, did paid internships with Dr. Suchanick, Dr. Persaud and Dr. Fitzgerald as well as held two part-time jobs.

“It was a lot of work, but I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences for the world,” Crossan said.

Following her graduation from SUNY Fredonia she went right into medical school at LECOM thanks to a letter from Dr. Suchanick, a DO (Doctor of Osteopathic medicine) herself.

“In order to attend LECOM you have to be recommended by another DO,” Crossan added.

“It was after working with her that I knew I wanted to be a DO rather than an MD.”

She outlined that a DO is a cross between a regular physician and a chiropractor and they specialize in muscular and skeletal complaints.

Schooling there was another four years during which she did a two week mission trip to Peru to aid in vaccinations and illness.

“That was a real wake up,” Crossan stated. “I really discovered what true poverty was going there as opposed to what we have here in the U.S.”

Now a graduate of LECOM Crossan is moving onto a five-year surgical residency for the Mclaren Greater Lansing Hospital where she will learn to do everything from transplants to vascular needs.

“I’ll be doing everything except brain and bone,” Crossan explained. “Those are separate specialities.”

Following her completion of her residency she plans to return to Western New York and put roots down specializing in oncological surgery primarily in breast cancer.