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BiographyDr. Flaherty was born in New York to young parents, who moved their family to the Big Island of Hawai'i soon thereafter. As the oldest of five children growing up in rural Hawai'i, Dr. Flaherty was raised with a strong sense of responsibility and desire to care for others. In the face of family crises, they dropped out of high school after one semester to help with the family's construction company. While their peers were preparing for college, Dr. Flaherty was developing resilience and learning several trades.
Dr. Flaherty did not consider higher education an option before moving to Colorado and taking the General Education Development (GED) exam at 18 years old. Initially planning to work as a wild-land firefighter during the summer and ski patrol during the winter, their GED score (in the 99th percentile) earned them an invitation to attend the local community college. While registering for an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course, Dr. Flaherty's life was forever changed by the instructor's recommendation: |
"If you're interested in medicine and want to help people, you should go to medical school."
Dr. Flaherty registered for a biology class and quickly realized they had found their calling. They maintained employment in multiple capacities to fund their education and graduated from Colorado Mountain College two years later. In 2007, Dr. Flaherty was honored with both an Associate of Science degree in Biology and the invitation to give the commencement address during their graduation ceremony.
Dr. Flaherty transitioned to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo for their Bachelor's degree. The epitome of a well-rounded college student and candidate for medical school, they majored in Philosophy, minored in Religious Studies, fulfilled required medical school prerequisites, and worked various jobs before graduating in 2010.
In the year following graduation, Dr. Flaherty obtained an EMT Certification and continued their education through UC Berkeley's Extension Program. They also returned to one of her previous forms of employment, laying tile, and saved enough money to backpack through Europe for two months, concluding their pre-medicine journey. Dr. Flaherty returned to Hawai'i in 2011 to attend the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).
After graduating from JABSOM, Dr. Flaherty established their surgical foundation as a University at Buffalo general surgery resident from June 2015 to June 2016, before matching into the Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Residency. Dr. Flaherty completed five years of training in the medical and surgical management and treatment of patients with diseases and disorders of the ear, nose, throat, and related structures of the head and neck. The scope of this training includes endocrine surgery, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, and laryngology (medical and surgical treatment of the voice box). In their last year of residency, Dr. Flaherty served as solo chief resident.
After graduating from residency in June 2021, Dr. Flaherty became the inaugural Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellow at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, WA. During this year of training with Dr. Michael Nuara, Dr. Flaherty assisted with an average of one full gender-affirming facial surgery (facial feminization), three rhinoplasties, and a number of other facial plastic and reconstructive surgeries (e.g., Mohs reconstruction, melanoma resection and reconstruction, blepharoplasty, facelift) per week. As a subspecialist trained in head and neck surgery, endocrine surgery, facial plastic surgery, and laryngology, Dr. Flaherty is uniquely equipped to assist transgender and non-binary patients with gender affirmation. Dr. Flaherty plans to further specialize in the emerging field of transgender head and neck surgery, providing both medical and surgical options for gender affirmation specific to the face and voice.
Dr. Flaherty's ultimate goal is to establish a multidisciplinary center of excellence, where transgender and non-binary patients may receive comprehensive medical, surgical, and psychosocial care from a team of providers—including facial plastic and reconstructive surgeons, laryngologists and voice therapists, urologists, gynecologists, endocrinologists, plastic surgeons, psychologists, social workers, family planners, and family services—working together under the same roof.
Dr. Flaherty is genderqueer and pronoun indifferent, using they/them, he/him, and she/her pronouns interchangeably. This bio uses they/them pronouns for consistency.
Dr. Flaherty transitioned to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo for their Bachelor's degree. The epitome of a well-rounded college student and candidate for medical school, they majored in Philosophy, minored in Religious Studies, fulfilled required medical school prerequisites, and worked various jobs before graduating in 2010.
In the year following graduation, Dr. Flaherty obtained an EMT Certification and continued their education through UC Berkeley's Extension Program. They also returned to one of her previous forms of employment, laying tile, and saved enough money to backpack through Europe for two months, concluding their pre-medicine journey. Dr. Flaherty returned to Hawai'i in 2011 to attend the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).
After graduating from JABSOM, Dr. Flaherty established their surgical foundation as a University at Buffalo general surgery resident from June 2015 to June 2016, before matching into the Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Residency. Dr. Flaherty completed five years of training in the medical and surgical management and treatment of patients with diseases and disorders of the ear, nose, throat, and related structures of the head and neck. The scope of this training includes endocrine surgery, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, and laryngology (medical and surgical treatment of the voice box). In their last year of residency, Dr. Flaherty served as solo chief resident.
After graduating from residency in June 2021, Dr. Flaherty became the inaugural Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellow at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, WA. During this year of training with Dr. Michael Nuara, Dr. Flaherty assisted with an average of one full gender-affirming facial surgery (facial feminization), three rhinoplasties, and a number of other facial plastic and reconstructive surgeries (e.g., Mohs reconstruction, melanoma resection and reconstruction, blepharoplasty, facelift) per week. As a subspecialist trained in head and neck surgery, endocrine surgery, facial plastic surgery, and laryngology, Dr. Flaherty is uniquely equipped to assist transgender and non-binary patients with gender affirmation. Dr. Flaherty plans to further specialize in the emerging field of transgender head and neck surgery, providing both medical and surgical options for gender affirmation specific to the face and voice.
Dr. Flaherty's ultimate goal is to establish a multidisciplinary center of excellence, where transgender and non-binary patients may receive comprehensive medical, surgical, and psychosocial care from a team of providers—including facial plastic and reconstructive surgeons, laryngologists and voice therapists, urologists, gynecologists, endocrinologists, plastic surgeons, psychologists, social workers, family planners, and family services—working together under the same roof.
Dr. Flaherty is genderqueer and pronoun indifferent, using they/them, he/him, and she/her pronouns interchangeably. This bio uses they/them pronouns for consistency.
Professional Interests |
Dr. Flaherty was drawn to otolaryngology for its broad scope, the opportunity to care for patients of all ages, and its contribution to quality of life by maintaining the human senses and ability to interact with each other as a social species.
Their interests include patient-oriented multidisciplinary team care, quality improvement, and providing specialized services to underserved communities. Specifically, Dr. Flaherty desires to improve the LGBTIQ+ community's access to healthcare and participate in the continued advancement of gender-affirming medicine. |
Personal Interests |
In their free time, Dr. Flaherty enjoys singing and playing guitar, recording music, karaoke, cooking, microbrewed beer, single-malt Scotch, crime- and science-fiction media, and spending time with their six rescue dogs (Paxton, Doofus, Sweetie, Shiner, Nalo, and Cookie).
Dr. Flaherty stays active and enjoys cycling, weightlifting, board sports (snowboarding, surfing, wakeboarding), hiking, camping, community-shared agriculture, carpentry, and tile-work. Dr. Flaherty is especially passionate about considering and discussing issues within philosophy and religion, human behavior, the science of teaching and learning, feminism, LGBTIQ+ advocacy, mentoring, and adoption. |