From Patient to Doctor: How a Transplant Recipient Became a Transplant Physician

Newswise — At age 17, Sara Kathryn Smith began an unexpected, personal health journey — a journey that would alter the course of her life and career and, ultimately, provide her a unique set of experiences to help others as a medical professional. Today, Smith serves as the medical director for pediatric liver transplantation at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. But years ago, she was a liver transplant patient herself. 

Her liver troubles began one evening during her junior year of high school — Smith had a pain in her stomach and threw up blood the following morning. After a trip to the emergency room, doctors treated her symptoms. For a while, those treatments worked — but, a few months into her freshman year of college, she learned she needed a liver transplant. After two failed liver transplants at different hospitals and damage to multiple organs, in a third procedure, surgeons gave Smith a new stomach, pancreas, kidney, small intestine and a successful, donor liver. She began a lengthy recovery, and spent nine months in the intensive care unit, relearning how to walk, talk and feed herself after her final operation. 

Smith, who wanted to be a doctor since she was 5 years old, formed a deep bond with her doctors, surgeons and nurses during her recovery. This bond would help guide her on a path to discovering her calling in pediatrics. “People said, ‘How are you going to be a doctor if you’re immunosuppressed?’ But I felt like I had a whole new lease on life after my transplants. I wanted to figure out for myself what I could handle,” she says. 

After becoming a doctor and working at other hospitals, Smith’s journey led her to a role at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center — a top-ranked program for living donor transplants. She started as the medical director for pediatric liver transplantation in January 2022, and has been working to expand the program. “The opportunity to work at Johns Hopkins was too good to be true. The people here are fantastic, and I always wanted to be able to build a program. Sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself,” Smith says. 

In 2022, the Children’s Center performed 10 transplants — almost double the number that the hospital has traditionally performed. Smith’s unique insight and perspective as a transplant recipient helps her provide a higher level of personalized care to connect with patients and their families. 

To mark National Donate Life Month in April, Smith is available for media interviews to discuss her journey leading up to and becoming a transplant physician, along with her work at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. For more information on Smith’s story, visit our website. 

National Donate Life Month in April helps raise awareness about donating, encourages Americans to register as donors, and honors those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.