Selected Podcast

Meet Dr. Kong!

Dr. Heather Kong shares what led her to pediatric orthopedics, her philosphy of care and what she enjoys in her free time.
Meet Dr. Kong!
Featuring:
Heather Kong, MD
Heather Kong, MD joined our medical staff following her pediatric orthopaedic fellowship at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the Shriners Hospitals for Children in St. Louis. Dr. Kong received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She then earned her medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, followed by an orthopaedic surgery residency at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. She completed fellowship training in pediatric orthopaedics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and the Shriners Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.

Learn more about Heather Kong, MD
Transcription:

Dr. Heather Kong (Guest): Getting to know patients and their families and going through this journey with them together is what is really rewarding about my job. So I knew that this was what I wanted to dedicate my career to. At Shriner’s we also take care of the kids with the most complex orthopedic conditions, and we have some of the most experienced doctors, nurses, and therapists in the area. Hi, my name is Dr. Heather Kong. I am a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon at Shriner’s Hospital in Portland. I take care of kids with traumatic injuries such as fractures and sports injuries. I also treat children who are either born with or develop limb deformities such as leg length differences and angled or crooked extremity or hip and foot problems. I first started working with the Shriner’s Hospital System during my medical training. I first worked with the Shriner’s Hospital in St. Louis, and that’s where I really got to see the vision of the organization at work. One thing that people might not know about me is that I really love traveling, both around the country and around the world, and I hope to incorporate international work into my medical career going forward as well. I’ve been to 6 out of 7 continents so far. The only one I’m missing is Antarctica. My philosophy and my goal in my job is to try to help each child grow up to be as successful and functional as possible. So within my little spear of influence on their lives, how can I best equip them and prepare them for the years ahead, and that looks different for each child and the goals might be different for each child. I really love working at Shriner’s because I get to work with such an awesome team of people who really believe in the mission of the hospital as much as I do and who try to make the experience as fun and encouraging as possible for the kids instead of scary or traumatic and I love getting to see the difference that we can make in these kids lives, not just for right now but long term as well.