Flourtown Resident Receives the 2012 Distinguished Achievement Award from Chestnut Hill College

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Stephanie King, M.D., Class of 1979 Received the 2012 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Chestnut Hill College Alumni Association.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (06/18/2012)(readMedia)-- The Chestnut Hill College Alumni Association announces that alumna Stephanie King, M.D., Class of 1979, is the recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Achievement Award for her groundbreaking and transformative surgical technique, her compassionate care for thousands of patients, and her education of hundreds of medical students, residents, and fellows in the Philadelphia region and beyond. The Chestnut Hill College Alumni Association Distinguished Achievement Award recognizes graduates of the College who have a history of accomplishment in their business or profession or in civic, philanthropic, or other volunteer activities.

Stephanie King is a renowned gynecological oncologist, named among the "Best Doctors for Women" by Philadelphia Magazine in 2000. This designation returned in 2002 and continued for four consecutive years. In 2011, the magazine named her among "Top Docs in Surgery," and in its May 2012 cover story, cited her work as among the "28 Amazing New Ways Philly Doctors Can Save Your Life."

Following her graduation summa cum laude from Chestnut Hill College in 1979 with a major in chemistry, Stephanie continued her studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where she also completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology and a fellowship in gynecologic oncology.

In March 2011, Dr. King joined Fox Chase Cancer Center as associate professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology. This appointment followed seven years on the faculty at Drexel University College of Medicine (Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, Hahnemann Hospital), six years with Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, and nine years with the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania with a clinical practice at each institution.

In 2008, with her husband, Dr. Paul Curcillo II, she pioneered Single Port Access surgery, a laparoscopic procedure cited in professional journals as a revolutionary technique, one that Drexel Medical's Dr. Minda Green notes as a "dynamic, new surgical alternative, in which major surgeries can now be performed through a small, single incision." This technique, says Dr. William E. Kelley Jr. of Richmond (Va.) Surgical, places Dr. King and Dr. Curcillo "at the forefront of this field in surgery internationally."

In addition to conducting a full clinical practice and teaching schedule, Dr. King is a frequent invited speaker and presenter at medical conferences throughout the world, including a 2010 session sponsored by the Laparoscopic Societies of Brazil and Latin America. She has conducted specialized instruction at the University of Wurzburg Hospital (Wartzburg, Germany) and has trained surgeons in India, Greece, and Italy in her new surgical alternative. She has also presented at surgical summits at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic.

Since 1987, Dr. King has presented at over 25 Philadelphia-region medical institutions and scientific meetings. She is a widely published author with 29 papers in professional journals and two chapters in respected surgical textbooks. She is a co-author on a textbook, now in process, that sets out the principles of her unique reduced port surgical technique.

Dr. King is a valued member of a number of professional committees and was a principal investigator on a National Cancer Institute pilot project grant at the University of Pennsylvania on Stage I gynecologic cancers. She is the recipient of multiple honors and awards, including the Angela Carlino Award for Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research/Care in 2008.

Each year, she organizes "King's Krew" to support the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation 5K Walk in Philadelphia, demonstrating that she is, as Dr. Green notes, "a patient advocate in every sense of the word."

Dr. Michael Seiden, president and CEO of Fox Chase Cancer Center says "Dr. King is the quintessential physician. She ranks among the three busiest gynecologic oncologists within Southeast Pennsylvania and has established a reputation with patients, family members, and nurses as being an expert clinician, skilled surgeon, and, perhaps, most importantly within the cancer field, a compassionate and caring physician. Dr. King continues to practice medicine and surgery in the highest form of the art. Southeast Pennsylvania is extraordinarily fortunate to have a professional like Stephanie King in its region."

About Chestnut Hill College

Chestnut Hill College, a four-year coed Catholic college in the Ignatian tradition, offers a traditional liberal arts undergraduate program as well as accelerated undergraduate degrees, master's and doctoral programs. The College has been rated by US News & World Report as among the best master's universities in the North, as among the best Northeastern colleges by The Princeton Review, and has been classified as selective by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Since its inception, the College has offered a rigorous curriculum that provides students with a broad background in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The goal of Chestnut Hill College has been to prepare students for life's challenges by helping them to grow intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and socially.

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