When Dr. Elena McDonald was conducting Covid vaccination clinics during the early days of the vaccine, she remembers a young girl who looked at her with some confusion. “Are you a doctor?” she asked.
The girl was understandably skeptical: She’d always gotten shots at the doctor’s office before; now they were in a school. Moreover, she had never seen a Black woman doctor in her life.
It’s an experience McDonald and her twin sister, Dr. Delana Wardlaw, are acutely familiar with. Though the lifelong Philadelphians are both physicians now, when they were growing up in Strawberry Mansion, they never had a doctor who was a Black woman. That tracks: Even now, Black women comprise just 2.8 percent of all physicians in the U.S.
“It is very important for individuals to see people who look like them in these positions.” — Dr. Delana Wardlaw
This lack of representation made it difficult for the now 49-year-old twins to envision themselves as the doctors they are today. McDonald is always glad to provide an example of a Black woman physician to a child. Growing up, Wardlaw wanted to be an elementary school teacher; McDonald wanted to be a lawyer. That changed when a female physician came to speak at Central High School when the girls were in the 11th grade. “She presented the information as to what you need to do to get into medical school. I held onto that sheet so that I could keep a road map,” Wardlaw says.
And, though they didn’t know it then, this lack of representation made — and makes — people who look like them prone to worse healthcare outcomes. Studies have found that race can affect how patients and doctors communicate with one another and what treatments doctors recommend. Historic biases and racism in medicine cause Black Americans to face higher rates of chronic disease, infant mortality and maternal mortality. In addition, Black Americans are more likely to live in healthcare deserts — places with few, if any, physicians — making it difficult to get routine preventative care and ongoing treatments.
Studies have found that health outcomes can improve when Black people go to Black doctors. “Elena and I didn’t see many doctors that looked like us when we were younger,” Wardlaw says. “It is very important for individuals to see people who look like them in these positions.”
Today, the sisters are working to bring more Black women into medicine — and reduce healthcare disparities in Black communities in the process. In fact, they’ve dedicated their careers to that goal, speaking out in public, establishing health education in schools, mentoring, creating a nonprofit to support that work. Just last month, they launched a podcast that shares the name of their foundation — Twin Sister Docs — and aims to reduce health disparities by educating people about common health conditions and how to get the most out of health care.
Getting people the care they need
Wardlaw is a family medicine doctor; McDonald is a pediatrician. They started their practices in North and Northeast Philadelphia: Wardlaw in Nicetown, and McDonald in Rhawnhurst, Kensington and Port Richmond. “We are well aware that unfortunately, the quality of one’s healthcare can very well be dependent on their zip code,” Wardlaw says. “That is why it is important for us to continue to work in the communities that we were raised in.”
Just as these locations are intentional, so are the people they hire. McDonald has a staff of about 30 physicians, nurse practitioners, medical assistants and administrators.
“As an African American physician, I’m always looking for African American physicians or other physicians of color to help support the patients that we take care of,” McDonald says. “We have a multicultural group of employees to reflect our patients.”
“We saw the direct impact of educating people about the vaccines, during a very uncertain time, and being able to give them the vaccines.” — Dr. Elena McDonald
They’ve built their careers in these neighborhoods, but when Covid came to Philly, they knew they could be doing more. So, like other doctors in the region, the sisters stepped up to help.
They launched their nonprofit The Twin Sister Docs in 2020 and started speaking out about the importance of observing safety measures, like masking and social distancing, and working with local schools to host vaccine clinics. During the height of the pandemic, they conducted 25 vaccine clinics and information sessions and vaccinated more than 700 people.
“We had discussions about the vaccine. We gave parents a chance to ask questions,” McDonald says. “We saw the direct impact of educating people about the vaccines, during a very uncertain time, and being able to give them the vaccines.”
In addition to the urgency they felt around the public health crisis, they were excited to work together again. As identical twins, they’ve always done everything together, including their education and medical school training. Both twins studied at Temple, where they joined an eight-week internship program through the Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania that allowed them to shadow a different Black physician each week.
“This was eye-opening and gave us the confidence to follow in their footsteps. Some of the physicians we met during the program are still our mentors today,” Wardlaw says.
At Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, they lived and studied together, quizzing one another and holding mock interview sessions when it came time to apply for residency. On weekends they’d road trip home to Philly. They were two of eight Black students in their class of 110.
As the first people in their families to become physicians, the twins sought out additional support at school: mentorship from their Black faculty advisor, Dr. Dwight Davis, for example. They joined the Student National Medical Association, a group that tries to help bring underrepresented students into medicine and a big brother / big sister program that paired first-year medical students with second-year student guides.
“Unfortunately, the quality of one’s healthcare can very well be dependent on their zip code.” — Dr. Delana Wardlaw
For years in their day jobs, they worked separately. Through Covid, and now with their nonprofit and podcast, they have been excited to work together again.
“We always had a great support system amongst ourselves, which made it much easier to navigate the world of medical school and residency. We’re always there to support each other, good, bad or ugly,” McDonald says. “People have asked us for many years, when are you going to do something together? So, here we are.”
“Bread and butter” health issues
Covid may no longer be an acute crisis, but Wardlaw and McDonald are continuing their efforts to reduce health disparities. In 2020, they started appearing on Solomon Jones’s radio morning show, Wake up with WURD, to help Black listeners get access to accurate physical and mental health information.
They also hold education sessions at conferences and festivals around the city, including at the Odunde Festival, Strawberry Mansion Day and at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women. At times, they feel they are swimming against the tide.
“Everybody with social media is an expert. There’s just a lot of misinformation out there,” Wardlaw says. “We are providing accurate information and debunking many of the myths that exist.”
The doctors focus on what they call “bread and butter” health issues, with particular attention to ones that disproportionately impact Black communities. Think: cardiovascular disease, STDs, colon cancer, COPD, asthma — conditions that are common, and can be prevented or treated if detected early enough. The sisters say it’s always a win when they convince people to get routine cancer screenings or a vaccine.
“When people say, I’m listening to you. I’m hearing what you guys are saying. I made an appointment with my doctor. I made sure I got my flu vaccine this year we understand the impact that we’re making,” McDonald says.
McDonald and Wardlaw touch on hot topics through the work of their foundation. This year, they’ve been talking a lot about the flu and measles. Such discussions are becoming ever-more important with President Trump’s appointment of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and as DOGE guts federal public health resources that would have normally helped educate people about these issues.
“Our goal is to make our communities healthier and to teach individuals how to advocate for themselves when they go into their doctor’s office so they can maximize their visits and get the care that they need.” — Dr. Elena McDonald
They hope the podcast will help extend their reach. People can listen from all over the country, at their convenience. The first episode introduces the doctors to their audience. The second talks about what to do during their yearly physical in order to get the most out of doctor visits.
“We started our foundation because we wanted to have a bigger reach outside of our offices,” McDonald says. “Our goal is to make our communities healthier and to teach individuals how to advocate for themselves when they go into their doctor’s office so they can maximize their visits and get the care that they need.”
A new generation of doctors
In addition to their professional work, advocacy and podcasting, the Twin Sister Docs have partnered with local schools, providing health ed to hundreds of students from kindergarteners all the way to high schoolers. Now, they’re the ones speaking at Central’s career day — and mentoring med school students through some of the same programs they participated in.
They’re deeply involved with Gesu School, an independent pre-K to grade 8 Catholic / Jesuit school next to St. Joe’s Prep. Gesu Principal Alana Lee was familiar with the work of the two sisters: McDonald’s sons go to the Prep; her husband spoke at Gesu’s career day. Lee reached out during Covid for advice on keeping her students healthy and safe. Since then, they’ve continued to partner on a number of initiatives: vaccine clinics, a monthly healthy living programming for the students and education about puberty.
“They’re so intentional with making sure that our students are really getting what they need out of this program so that they can grow to become healthy adults,” Lee says. “It brings such inspiration to our students, especially our Black and Brown girls. They’re able to see an image of themselves within the Twin Sister Docs.”
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