 My name is Victoria Stab, I'm a pediatric general surgeon here at Jersey Shore Medical Center. I've always loved working with children and I merged my passion for working with children with my passion in medicine to put two together and specialize in the field of pediatric surgery. The reasons why a pediatric general surgeon might be needed for a child is very vast from something as simple as an embedded splinter that a pediatrician might not be able to remove to something as complex as oncologic care for tumor removals. I chose to work with children because I think it's incredibly rewarding to make an impact early on in their life and then potentially give them the ability to live a completely normal healthy life going forward and see them through their recovery. A lot of times it's the first time that a child is needing to go through the health care system especially going into the operating room so there's a lot of unknowns so I like to explain everything of what's going to happen, who they're going to meet, where they're going to go, what to expect afterwards and just walk them through all of the expectations before coming into the hospital undergoing surgery. It's a scary time in a parent's life, it's a very scary unknown time in a child's life and to be able to develop that connection, earn their trust and see them through it I find incredible joy and passion in doing.