Interview with our PA April Buckingham

We are thrilled to announce that Physician’s Assistant and South Carolina native April Buckingham has joined the Port City Plastic Surgery team. Her previous experience is in urgent care and in women’s health.

April is a South Carolina native, originally from Summerville near Port City Plastic Surgery’s offices. She attended the University of South Carolina for undergrad, and did her PA training at the Medical University of SC, graduating with a Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) in August 2006. She attended Fort Dorchester High, is married to a High School teacher and has two young children, a 4 year old son and a ten month old daughter. She loves cooking, especially baking cakes and cookies, and she loves to travel.

“During the year between undergrad and PA school, I worked for Dr. Widenhouse,” says Buckingham. “It was a wonderful experience professionally, and when the opportunity presented itself again I was excited to come work with him. He’s a great boss, is fun to work with, and I love the upbeat office environment at Port City. I also have enormous respect for the care and concern he shows for our patients.”

In a typical day at Port City, April spends time assisting Dr. Widenhouse in surgery. She meets with patients in the office, including post-op visits, patient teaching and routine follow up after surgery. She spends time administering facial fillers and Dysport. After hours, she is on call to help patients who have questions.

“Patient education is a big part of my typical day,” says April. “After Dr. Widenhouse does the initial patient consult, I work with patients to make sure they understand the procedure.” Topics covered usually include what to do to prepare, post-op care, and what to expect when they go home.

Buckingham notes that the most rewarding parts of her job include helping people accomplish their goals, and making a difference in patients’ lives through plastic surgery. “Helping people who are having breast reconstruction, recovering from facial trauma, having surgery after weight loss or working towards accomplishing personal goals is especially meaningful to me,” says April. “Giving these patients the opportunity to move forward with their lives makes everything we do at Port City worthwhile.”