Meet the provider: Mihaela Rapolti, M.D.
January 6, 2022
Mihaela Rapolti, M.D., is originally from Romania. She obtained her M.D. at Universitatea de Medicinia si Farmacie Carol Davila in Bucharest, Romania. She fully trained at the same university in Bucharest and in 2005 became board certified in Plastic Surgery in Romania. She had further training in Paris, France in Hand Surgery at L’Institut Francais de Chirurgie de la Main (French Institute of Hand Surgery) for six months, L’Institut de la Main (Hand Institute) for another six months, as well as training in microsurgery at Leonard de Vinci – Universite Paris XIII for one academic year in which she obtained her Diplome de Microcirurgie in 2010.
Dr. Rapolti retrained again in the US for two years in General Surgery at Advocate Masonic Medical Center, which is affiliated with the University of Illinois at Chicago, from 2011-2013. She continued her retraining in 2013-2014 in Burn Surgery Fellowship at John H. Stroger Jr. Cook County Hospital in Chicago. After the two-year general surgery training, she continued her plastic surgery training in the US from 2015-2019. She retrained in the Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Program at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, becoming board eligible after the total six years of training. She worked in Romania as a plastic surgeon before and in between her training fellowships, and before coming to the US.
In November 2021, she became Board Certified in Plastic Surgery by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
Her special clinical interests include microsurgical breast reconstruction (free DIEP, free TRAM flaps), lymphedema, hand burn scar contracture treatment with laser and surgery for maximal hand function recovery, elective and selective hand surgery including trigger finger, nerve compressions, Dupuytren’s disease, Dequervain’s tendonitis, tendon adhesion release and tendon transfers under WALANT (wide awake local anesthesia no tourniquet), treatment of peripheral nerve injury, excess skin removal after massive weight loss, and aesthetic procedures under local anesthesia.
Dr. Rapolti’s current top three things she enjoys about her job is working with people who care, utilizing her creativity and skills to find a tailored solution for each patient with varied and broad pathology, and teaching. In the 2020-21 school year she received the Teacher of the Year Award from her Plastic Surgery residents.
In her personal life, she has a husband who is a master mechanical engineer and an adult daughter who is a medical student in the Class of 2023 at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Her favorite motto is from Michael Jordan, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
To set up an appointment with Dr. Rapolti, visit our appointment page or call (877) 929-6342.
