From Romania to Rochester: Dr. Annamaria Kontor’s Journey

Do you know your physician’s backstory?

Chances are, it’s nowhere near as engrossing as Dr. Annamaria Kontor’s. That’s not a boast or brag — it’s simply a reflection of where Dr. Kontor has been and where she’s going.

Dr. Kontor was born in the Transylvania region of Romania. (Keep the vampire jokes to a minimum, please.) Her teachers identified her as a promising student from the very start; by the time she was old enough to express her ambitions, it was clear to all around her that she wanted to grow up to be a …physicist. Just before her high school graduation the communist government thwarted the training of scientists She had to take another path, chose medicine and found her real calling.

The first step in her educational journey to becoming a pediatrician: Premedical training at Institute of Medicine & Pharmacology of her home town. After she emigrated to Hungary and secured admission to Semmelweis University School of Medicine in Budapest. In 1993, she graduated summa cum laude and prepared for the next phase of her journey.

Dr. Kontor Sets Her Sights on America

America’s healthcare system is the envy of the world — and particularly medical students who hail from other countries. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that someone with Dr. Kontor’s pedigree would set her sights on a prestigious residency program in the heart of the United States. Dr. Kontor did just that: In 1995, she accepted a position at the Henry Ford Health System’s Department of Pediatrics in Detroit, Michigan.

She spent the next three years in a grueling series of rotations, learning the nuts and bolts of pediatric medicine as well as complementary medical techniques that have since served her well. She treated patients at Henry Ford’s Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, and numerous outpatient centers.

Dr. Kontor finished her residency in 1998 and began weighing job offers. Though she briefly considered returning to Hungary thanks to improving political conditions there, America had become her home.

After some deliberation, she accepted a position at King’s Daughters Hospital in Yazoo City, Mississippi, where she spent four years as an attending physician. She was the sole practicing pediatrician in Yazoo County, one of the country’s most medically underserved jurisdictions, and she saw it all: inpatient, outpatient, emergency medicine and more. Dr. Kontor credits her time in Mississippi with making her the pediatrician she is today.

A New Home in Rochester, New York

Dr. Kontor didn’t stay in Mississippi forever. In the early 2000s, her husband — also a physician — accepted a position with a Rochester General Hospital in New York. Undeterred by the region’s cold, snowy reputation (they’d lived in Michigan, after all), Dr. Kontor began looking for work there as well. She soon found a home with the Rochester General Medical Group, well regarded throughout New York State as a leading medical system.

In Rochester, Dr. Kontor’s professional life blossomed. Her main duties include primary care pediatrics with on-call responsibilities; since 2014, she’s been a key physician at the Penn Fair Pediatric Group in Penfield, a suburb of Rochester. Dr. Kontor proudly works with children from all backgrounds and all ages; as a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics for nearly two decades, she’s considered an authority on a variety of generic and specific childhood medical issues.

A Legacy of Professional Achievement

Though providing comprehensive healthcare to her young patients is her passion and calling, she’s lately been able to give back to the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Since 2006, she has been associated with the University of Rochester Medical School in various capacities: as a clinical preceptor for pediatric residents between 2008 and 2011, and as a mentor and clinical preceptor of first and second year PCC (Primary Care Clerkship) medical students.

Paging Dr. Kontor

Dr. Annamaria Kontor has accomplished a great deal during her two-decade-plus career, but she’s not quite ready to hang up her stethoscope yet. She’s passionate about the medical issues of the day, from preventive medicine to holistic healthcare. And as a passionate advocate for the well-being of her patients, she’s sure to have an impact on future generations of Rochester-area kids.