Caitlan Pinotti, MD, MMCi

I was majoring in engineering during my undergraduate education. During that time, I worked on image-processing projects. That was my first introduction to radiology. While collaborating with some doctors on those projects, I realized there needed to be more connection between people who practice medicine and those who create medical devices. I intended to bridge that gap as much as one person could. That is where my interest in radiology originated. I thought that of all the fields in medicine, it’s the one that relies heavily on technology and advancement. During medical school, I was in a unique small group of people that wanted to do radiology from the beginning. So many of my peers and colleagues didn’t even know what radiology was when they entered medical school. I eventually chose to pursue interventional radiology as my specialty because the beauty of IR is that you get to do life-saving procedures. Many areas of radiology are heavily diagnostic and have no interaction with patients. However, IR is integral to many treatment teams for cancer or non-cancer-related diseases. My philosophy of care is simple: to treat the patients as if they are your loved ones.

After finishing college, I enrolled in pharmacy school. I spent a summer working with the abdominal transplant team in Detroit, Michigan. My first experience in the operating room (OR) was watching a kidney transplant. I found it remarkable the impact that the surgeon and the team had on this individuals’ life. That specific moment inspired me to enroll in medical school and eventually surgery. Seeing a surgeon is a stressful time in someone’s life. Being a part of an individual’s journey is truly a privilege and I take this responsibility seriously. In many instances, I will see a patient for many years, long beyond their initial surgery. As such, it is important to me to get to know my patients and their families and to be available to them throughout their journey. I enjoy all aspects of colorectal surgery. My specific interests include inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, and diverticulitis. When I am not with patients, I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I especially enjoy travelling, seeing new places and new cultures. I enjoy being outdoors and hiking.

Transplant hepatology combines a unique constellation of areas including critical care, palliative care, endoscopic procedures and ethics. It is this challenging combination that sparks my passion for this field and why I love to care for all patients with chronic liver disease. My goal is to individualize care for each patient to help them understand their disease and work on goals of care with an ultimate goal of liver transplantation if it is needed. From an academic standpoint, I am interested in clinical education of both undergraduate and graduate students to help train the next generation of doctors.