My name is Samantha Spencer. My role in the Vascular Anomalies Center is to be an orthopedic surgeon that helps out with any of the musculoskeletal problems that can accompany vascular anomaly problems. That typically includes limb length discrepancy, such as one leg being much larger or longer than the other; joint problems such as joint contractures, joint pain; problems where vascular anomalies may be in muscles and causing issues and problems with the back, such as curves or scoliosis.

How did you become interested in this pediatric population?
I’d have to say my mentor Dr. Kasser, who also works in the vascular anomalies program. I didn’t see too much of it as a resident but when I was a fellow, I started going up to the Vascular Anomalies Clinics with him during the combined clinic on Fridays and really found the problems interesting. I suppose one of the reasons I chose the field I did and medicine in general is I wanted to help make people’s quality of life better. While you can’t, unfortunately, cure most of the vascular anomalies, you can often offer something that makes someone’s life a whole lot better. If they’ve got one leg that’s going to grow to be 3 inches longer than the other, if we do it at the right time we can offer a minimal operation that makes the legs be relatively equal when they’re done growing, or sometimes it’s possible to take out some of the vascular malformations if they’re just in a certain muscle or inside a joint causing problems.