Stephanie Cates
Stephanie Cates has distinguished herself with 24 years of Active-Duty military service as a Surgical Technologist. Her expertise lies in Urology, although her exceptional contributions to military healthcare extend to every anatomic domain. Her journey in the medical profession began in 2000 at the 779th Medical Group at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where she cared for patients in vascular, spinal, orthopedic, gastrointestinal, general surgery, and plastic surgery. Shortly after entering the elective surgery field, September 11th occurred, which would later change the types of surgery she assisted in, but not before moving to a remote tour to Asia.
She moved to Germany in 2004 for two years at Landstuhl with the 435th Medical Squadron. Here, she cared for thousands of young men and women from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). All wounded patients from OIF and OEF would come through Landstuhl, and Stephanie assisted in many amputations of arms and legs, open belly surgeries, gun-shot wounds, craniotomies, spinal surgeries, and multiple shrapnel wounds, as well as burn victims. During this time, Stephanie decided to obtain specialty training in Urology.
In 2006, Stephanie went to the Naval School of Health Sciences in Portsmouth, Virginia, where she graduated as the sole “Distinguished Graduate” of the Urology School. From there, she returned to Maryland at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, where she assisted in surgeries as a Urology Technician. However, from September 2008 to January 2009, she deployed to Iraq. She assisted in the first-ever-elective open-heart surgery on an Iraqi soldier who had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. The surgery saved the soldier’s life. Shortly after returning to Maryland, she received an on-the-spot promotion by the 79th Wing’s Brigadier General in front of her peers. She attended the Non-Commissioned Officers School at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, where she graduated as a “Distinguished Graduate.”
In 2013, Stephanie moved to England, where she was the sole technician at the Royal Air Force Lakenheath Hospital with the 48th Medical Group. Here, she assisted in urologic surgeries and was deployed to Italy at the Aviano Air Base Hospital with the 31st Medical Group, where she was the sole technician and performed care in the clinic for patients. She also had the opportunity to observe surgeries performed in Cambridge and be part of cadaver lab training at Cambridge University, assisting her Urologist. She spent four years in England before moving back to Stateside in 2013.
Stephanie and her family moved to Ohio, at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, with the 88th Medical Group from 2013 to the present. Shortly after arriving, she went to Keesler Air Force Base Hospital to learn how to assist in robotic surgery using the Da Vinci XI Intuitive system. She also attended Senior Non-Commissioned Officer School, back at Maxwell-Gunter, where she was vice president of her class and graduated as a “Distinguished graduate.” While stationed in Ohio, she deployed twice. During COVID-19 in 2021, she was deployed to Detroit, Michigan, to administer the vaccine to the local population at Ford Field. The following summer, in 2022, she deployed to Honduras for Resolute Sentinel humanitarian Urologic surgery with the SURGRETE (surgical readiness training exercise) team, where she assisted in adult and pediatric surgeries.
In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Stephanie has received numerous accolades, including Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Quarter and dozens of Preceptor awards as a teacher to medical students. She is also recognized for her leadership and mentorship. She graduated with a BA degree in Liberal Arts as Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona Global Campus. Stephanie is currently planning to pursue her PhD and begin her own acupuncture practice.
