Meet Dr. Colleen App MD

Colleen AC App, MD, FACS, board-certified breast surgeon and Medical Director of The Breast Health & Wellness Center is a lifelong resident of Michigan.

After graduating Valedictorian from Oxford High School, she attended Hillsdale College. Dr. App graduated from Hillsdale College summa cum laude. In addition to her academic achievements, she was the captain of the basketball team and graduated an Academic All American. Dr. App attended Wayne State University School of Medicine. After graduating medical school in 1993, she was accepted into the General Surgery Residency Program at St. John Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan under the direction of program chairman, Larry Lloyd, MD, FACS.   During this training period she was influenced by the persistent commitment to excellence that continues to stimulate her to this day. Upon graduation in 2002, Dr. App moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she joined her husband, Dr. Michael J App and father-in-law Dr. Peter B App in providing unprecedented health care to the community of Grand Rapids.

Dr. App worked as a General Surgeon and Trauma Surgeon until 2006.   After hearing world renowned Breast Surgeon, Professor Umberto Veronesi from Milan, Italy deliver a keynote address at a national meeting for Breast Surgeons, Dr. App was influenced to pursue a desire to provide patients with benign and malignant diseases of the breast a higher level of care.   At this point in her career, Dr. App received mentorship from one of Grand Rapid’s finest Breast Surgeons, John C. Rienstra, MD, FACS and dedicated 100% of her surgical practice to breast care.   Dr. App opened the Advanced Breast Care Center of West Michigan for the Michigan Medical Physicians Corporation in 2008, which was recognized by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.

Dr. App is certified by the American College of Surgeons and has been in practice since 2002.   As a dedicated Breast Surgeon, her practice focuses on the care and management of benign and malignant diseases of the breast. Dr. App’s deepest passion is the prevention of breast cancer and she has dedicated her career to the identification of women at increased risk for the development of breast disease and providing these individuals with a tailored screening and surveillance program.   In 2008, Dr. App was the 172nd Breast Surgeon in the nation to be certified in Breast Ultrasound by the American Society of Breast Surgeons. This certification is recognized by the American College of Radiology.

Dr. App is an active member of countless national programs all dedicated to providing comprehensive, state-of-the-art breast care, including:

  • American College of Surgeons
  • American Society of Breast Surgeons
  • American Society of Breast Disease
  • National Consortium of Breast Centers
  • The Mastery of Breast Surgery
  • Society for Advanced Women’s Imaging

Dr. App is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Surgery at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine. As a member of the teaching faculty at the Grand Rapids Medical Education and Research Council, Dr. App is committed to educating and training medical students who will be doctors of the future. Dr. App remains active in research and clinical trials.