Most doctors would love to have a clone of themselves to help with their patient workload. You might think that Dr. Elana McDonald got that wish but, it’s actually her twin sister Dr. Delana Wardlaw! These identical twins made it their life goal to improve people’s health.
The sisters didn’t decide to persue medicine at the same time. Wardlaw said she wanted to become a physician after their maternal grandmother died of breast cancer. At the time, she and her sister were eight years old. She also went on to say “That influenced my decision to go into medicine. I felt like I wanted to utilize my strengths – I knew I was good in math and science and then I also wanted to go into a field where I felt like could make a difference.”
McDonald decided on the medical profession later on. She thought about becoming an attorney. She liked children and interacting with people and decided to become a physician. “I knew I wanted to help people,” McDonald said. “I knew I wanted a job where I could have constant interaction with people and a career where I can make a difference in people’s lives.”
The sisters are happy they can help the people in their community. Wardlaw, a family medicine physician, is proud to serve the African American community. She said, “It’s my job to give back to our community. There are huge discrepancies in medicine and it is my job to try to eliminate some those discrepancies to the best of my capabilities. I’m from the community and I’m here to connect with the community.”
Some Physicians know when they are very young that medicine is the path they want to take and for some like McDonald the idea comes later in life. But either way, these twin Doctors are making great strides in their community and the world needs more people like them.