How sick, toxic, and broken is America for African Americans? The medical community’s lack of response to urgently deal with racism is felt to be hypocritical with the name of caregiver. As a Black female orthopedic surgeon, less than 2% in the nation, I was trained to fix broken things. Racism in America is not…
Sonya M. Sloan, MD, explores how smart phones and other devices are impacting our health and what we can do about it. We have all heard of the dangers of texting while driving, but what about texting while walking? A few years ago, while working as a traveling orthopedic surgeon in a small town, I sat at…
Most patients believe and trust a diagnosis and treatment plan their physician provides them. So why is a second opinion in medicine so important? The “practice of medicine” is a term used to imply a variety of diagnoses and treatments. Yes, there is a standard of care in every medical discipline, but there are also…
Listen and subscribe/follow on Appleopens in a new tab or window, Stitcheropens in a new tab or window, and Spotifyopens in a new tab or window so you don’t miss the next episode. And if you like what you hear, a five-star rating goes a long way in helping us share the story side of medicine! This story is…
Respect: Rule #4 in my book, The Rules of Medicine, is knowing the janitor’s name. My mother taught me that respect for others would teach people how to handle you and make others listen to you more attentively. While working in the VA hospital, I knew the name of every janitor in the OR and…
Sonya Sloan, M.D., shares the legacy of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African American M.D., who inspired generations of Black women in healthcare. Why is it so essential to know Black history? It secures a lineage of hope and inspiration for those who will follow to become doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers in medicine….
Sonya M. Sloan, MD, shares proven methods that can assist you in setting and achieving your goals for the new year. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year! We made it. And with a sigh of relief, yes, 2021 is finally here. So now, after a year like none other and…
Sonya M. Sloan, MD, shares her thoughts on the challenges of COVID fatigue and how we can get through it together. Everyone who’s tired of the COVID-19 global pandemic, please raise your hand! You, by definition, have “COVID fatigue”. I am not talking about the clinical diagnosis of fatigue that occurs with patients who experience…
Dear Superheroes, Hey, how’s it going? Yes, pretty freakin’ SURREAL is a great way to describe the worst world-wide medical disaster in our lifetime. I understand you are extremely busy saving lives, but I wanted to tell you THANK YOU! Truth be told, thank you really doesn’t do you justice. I don’t think there are…
The United States has been a slow brewing cauldron of gender bias for years. With increasing tensions and an unspoken, formidable energy in most workplaces and educational institutions, women have grown restless. The culmination has and is resulting into an empowering movement for gender equality (#womensrights). And the medical profession is not immune. I wasn’t…
Welcome to the Executive Innovation Show Podcast, brought to you by One Touch Telehealth. During this podcast hear host, Carrie Chitsey, talk with Dr. Sonya M. Sloan, Andy Poole, and Dr. John Noble, Jr. Dr. Sonya M. Sloan, better known as #OrthoDoc, has established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the male-dominated field of…
Paying it Forward to Women in Orthopedics Sonya Sloan, M.D. I have learned to appreciate the saying, “If you want to hear God laugh, then make a plan.” When it came to my aspirations to become a doctor and a surgeon, God’s sense of humor was in over drive. No one looked like me in residency. No…
“You cannot have your cake and eat it too.” This age-old adage seems to have been thrust upon women specifically, despite historic changes in women’s rights. Women now live in a time of empowerment in which we can have our cake and eat it too. Better yet, we can have it all. As a female…
Every September, the American Medical Association recognizes women in medicine. My company celebrated the month by hosting a group of 10 female locum tenens physicians in our office for a few days to talk about what it’s like to be a woman in medicine, how the field has changed, and what they anticipate for the future. The…
Empathy…it is one thing to take care of a patient — to diagnosis, prescribe medications, and operate on them — but being the patient is a whole other animal. I know this experience, firsthand. During my residency, I discovered that it was going to be very difficult to have children due to an unforeseen medical…
My mom, a Registered Nurse, is the primary reason I went into medicine. As a young girl from small town USA, I never saw a female physician, let alone an African-American one. As I continue to pursue my interest in medicine, the advice she always told me was, “Respect everyone”. She would say, “Unfortunately, a…
The internet and social media have brought another dimension to medicine that has been under-utilized for various reasons. Blogging, also known as a “web-log”, it is similar to an online journal entry on a specific topic. The fact is, 81% of Americans trust bloggers (1). As medical professionals, we all have unique experiences and outlooks…
Healthcare does not just lie within the corridors of the newly constructed clinic or hospital. In fact, some would say that the practice of medicine is experienced at its’ best when one is challenged with out-of-the-ordinary surroundings, unexpected conditions, and serving an underprivileged population. If you have ever had the opportunity to work on an…
