Years after first stepping into the operating room as a medical student, Dr. Valentina Bonev still feels the same excitement about breast surgery that initially drew her to the specialty.
Growing up in Orange County, California, she was fascinated by science, anatomy and biology. Medicine was also part of her family history: both her father and grandfather were cancer surgeons. Yet there was never an expectation that she would follow the same path.
"There was never any pressure on me to become a doctor," she said. "I naturally had a passion for medicine."
Today, Dr. Bonev is a board-certified breast surgical oncologist at Breastlink Orange, not far from where her interest in medicine began. She earned both her undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of California, Irvine, completed her general surgery residency at Loma Linda University Health and fellowship training in breast surgical oncology at Northwestern University’s Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center in Chicago.
During medical school, Dr. Bonev discovered the specialty that would become her career.
Working alongside breast surgeons, she found mentors who gave her opportunities to participate directly in patient care and surgery. As a medical student, she assisted with and performed breast surgeries, including mastectomies, under close supervision. She found something particularly compelling in breast surgery: the opportunity to build lasting relationships with patients.
Unlike surgical specialties in which a physician may operate, see a patient once after the surgery and move on, breast cancer care can create relationships that last for years.
"I really enjoy the anatomy, the surgeries, even the clinic," Dr. Bonev said.
She is equally drawn to the multidisciplinary nature of breast care — the ongoing conversations among surgeons, radiologists, pathologists and other specialists working together on behalf of a patient.
Despite her strong desire to learn and succeed, the path wasn't always easy. "Nothing was handed to me, that's for sure," she said. "I put in a lot of hard work and perseverance. That and believing in myself got me where I am today."
That belief in herself ultimately led her to a field that still feels like the right fit. "I love it," she said.