Last Updated: Feb 22, 2024
Not only are they sisters, but Delana Wardlaw, MD and Elana McDonald, MD are twins. Born and raised in Philadelphia, they both sought a path of medical education, first attending Temple University and then Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine at the Hershey Medical Center.
So, it wasn’t surprising that they would end up working together to establish their own organization, Twin Sister Docs, which aims to increase awareness of health care disparities and help close the gap on inequality in health care.
Coming from a neighborhood in Philadelphia that they call “humble beginnings”, they grew up seeing firsthand the economic and social struggles that play into quality health care.
Dr. Wardlaw said, “Our interest in medicine was piqued when our maternal grandmother died of breast cancer at the age of 53.”
“When we got older, we sort of realized that our grandmother was working multiple jobs,” said Dr. McDonald. “Thinking back, you put the pieces together and realize she probably didn’t have health insurance or the proper access to health care. This was a big part of our why.”
Both Dr. McDonald and Dr. Wardlaw saw a need to extend their practice and reach outside of the medical offices.
“We’ve been working in underserved communities for 20 years,” Dr. Wardlaw said. “Our mantra is that your zip code shouldn’t determine the quality of health care that you receive.”
The mission of Dr. Wardlaw and Dr. McDonald is to not only educate the communities but also to help physicians understand the disconnect between minority communities and the distrust with the medical establishment.
“We also talk about cultural competency,” Dr. Wardlaw said. “Physicians need to be aware of the challenges of the communities that they serve.”
The concept of Twin Sister Docs was educating people about general information to take back to their doctor.
“We started out doing lives on Instagram where we would focus on breast cancer and statistics, how it is impacting the African American community, and why it’s important to get your mammogram,” Dr. Wardlaw said.
In addition to breast cancer, topics also included cervical cancer, colon cancer, the importance of pap smears and knowing your blood pressure.
Dr. McDonald explained, “The important thing was educating people to give them enough information to have a discussion with their doctors.”
“And just as we were getting off the ground, COVID hit,” she said.
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Twin Sister Docs was instrumental in providing vaccine education through a variety of platforms.
“The one thing about COVID is that it caught us all off guard – the medical establishment, the government and the information was coming so quickly and changing so rapidly, we knew that would raise concerns,” said Dr. Wardlaw.
“We knew this was going to be an issue with the African American community. We knew that people feel more comfortable with someone they have something in common with, people who they feel like have their backs,” explained Dr. McDonald. “So, we knew we could offer our medical expertise and connections with the community to help educate.”
One of their first outreaches was a state senator who asked them to come on a news radio show to give information about COVID-19, before the quarantine hit. From there they reached out to a prominent African American radio station in the community to give some information about COVID-19 and why it was important to take heed.
They did a lot of town halls with politicians like Senator Bob Casey, education sessions with schools to continue to provide education as well as church organizations and civic organizations that are prominent in the African American community.
“We knew we had to meet people where they are,” Dr. Wardlaw stated. “We were living in this virtual world, but we knew people were looking for familiar faces that they can connect to.”
“The misinformation was there, and we just needed to keep combating it,” said Dr. McDonald.
To lead by example, they also publicly shared when they received their own COVID-19 vaccinations.
“We wanted to let people know that we are not suggesting something to them that we aren’t going to do ourselves or our family members,” Dr. McDonald said.
On learning they received the Voluntary Service Award from PAMED, they both said it was appreciated for recognition of the work they’ve done but also to further the work they still want to accomplish.
“Representation matters. If physicians don’t know the challenges that the African American communities are facing, they’re going to miss the ball on the connection with their patients,” Dr. Wardlaw said. “So, we’re glad to get this recognition and platform to share that education.”