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Melanie Lynch, MD

Assistant Professor of Surgery (Oncology, Breast)
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Additional Titles

Director of Breast Surgery- Bridgeport, Surgery (Oncology)

About

Titles

Assistant Professor of Surgery (Oncology, Breast)

Director of Breast Surgery- Bridgeport, Surgery (Oncology)

Biography

Melanie Lynch, MD, FACS, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery (Oncology) and Director of Breast Surgery at Smilow Cancer Hospital Bridgeport, Fairfield, and Trumbull offices and the Norma Pfriem Breast Center. She is a board certified General Surgeon and fellowship trained Surgical Oncologist. Dr. Lynch previously served as Medical Director of the Summa Health System Breast Program and was Section Chief of General Surgery at Cleveland VA Medical Center. In addition, she held an appointment as Assistant Professor of Surgery and Associate Program Director of General Surgery Residency Program at Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Lynch has significant clinical experience in breast cancer surgery, with a practice dedicated to the integration of oncoplastic techniques including nipple sparing mastectomy, oncoplastic approaches to breast conservation, and surgical techniques for the prevention of lymphedema. Recognizing the importance of multidisciplinary and patient centered care, she has developed innovative clinical programs, including multidisciplinary clinics for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, a high-risk program for screening and management of women at increased risk of breast cancer, survivorship care, and use of integrative medicine for management of symptoms related to cancer treatment. Dr. Lynch was awarded the Crain’s Cleveland Business Physician Innovator Award in 2018 for the implementation of an access program that ensures next day access and expedited biopsies for women with a concern of cancer.


Appointments

Education & Training

MD
The Ohio State College of Medicine (1999)
MA
The Ohio State University, Women Studies (1988)

Clinical Care

Overview

Melanie Lynch, MD, was in fourth grade when she opened up an anatomy text book and knew she wanted to become a doctor.

“I loved science, biology in particular, and decided this is what I would do,” says Dr. Lynch, who is director of breast surgery at the Norma Pfriem Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital, which has locations at Park Avenue Medical Center in Trumbull and Fairfield and at Bridgeport Hospital.

Throughout her early schooling she was also active in theater, which turned out to be useful training. “In theater, you develop confidence in speaking and in being present with people,” she explains. “There’s an emotional intelligence that is required in playing a character or delivering a song.”

Dr. Lynch puts that emotional intelligence to work when she meets with patients. “I recognize that it’s a privilege to be with someone at a difficult time in their lives,” she says. “I acknowledge patients’ anxieties, uncertainties, and fears. I’m honest and I provide reassurance. I tell them what we know, what we can offer, and what I have seen in my own clinical practice.”

Surgery, she says, was a natural fit for her in her medical training. “It’s almost like a Rorschach test between surgery or medicine, and I clearly belonged with the surgeons, even though that was unsettling to me at the time as I had three small children,” she says. “But it was the dedication to anatomy that got me, and that you are treating and curing disease by changing anatomy. I also love the intensity of it and the decision making. I love the engagement of being in the operating room and satisfaction of doing an operation that will have a profound effect on a patient.”

Making a comprehensive treatment plan and working with an entire team to coordinate care for a patient is another rewarding aspect of her job, Dr. Lynch notes.

“From plastic surgery to medical oncology to radiation oncology to making sure the patient has physical therapy to get ready for surgery and to recover, the surgeon is there at the moment of diagnosis and helps shape the plan and is the quarterback of the team,” she says. “I also love the cancer survivorship element and working with women to reduce their risk of recurrence and engaging in nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and other healthy habits.”

Dr. Lynch’s clinical expertise includes the integration of oncoplastic techniques for nipple sparing mastectomy, oncoplastic approaches to breast conservation, and surgical techniques for the prevention of lymphedema.

“Breast surgery has transformed during the course of my career. Fundamentally, the operations are to help diagnose and stage breast cancer to determine the extent of the disease and to cure it,” she says. “Breast cancer is curable, and surgery plays a big part in that. More than 80% of women with breast cancer will have a cure and live a long life. So, we develop our surgeries to provide women with integrity in their bodies. It’s not just removing the cancer, but making sure the breast has good size, shape, and symmetry.”

Clinical Specialties

Breast Surgical Oncology

Fact Sheets

Board Certifications

  • Surgery General

    Certification Organization
    AB of Surgery
    Original Certification Date
    2007

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Events

Oct 202423Wednesday