The Our Stories Podcast

The HMO Wellness program is delighted to share a conversation with Jade Jones, MD for this episode of the Our Stories Podcast.

In this conversation Dr. Jones shares her journey into medicine, a journey that began at age six when she decided to become a doctor so she could take care of people like her family members who were dealing with medical challenges in the Virgin Islands where health care resources were limited. Training and research experiences in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Texas inspired Dr. Jones not only to focus on hematology and medical oncology, but also health care disparities, especially for people with limited resources at Grady and Midtown. Dr. Jones speaks of mentors who have encouraged her along the way, as well as special opportunities to share stories with colleagues about how best to manage difficult situations. By revisiting her personal statement for medical school and reminding herself why she went into medicine in the first place, Dr. Jones is able to attend to her own sense of wellbeing so she can be fully present for others.

Pearline "Pearl" Ledbetter is a lead Pharmacy Technician with Emory University Midtown and has been with Emory for the past 35 years. In this episode she shares her story how she got into the Pharmacy environment and what brings her joy in the work. She takes deep pride in her work, so that patients can receive effective, efficient, and compassionate care. She loves seeing patients ring the bell at their last treatment in the Winship infusion center. Pearl shares about her family history of her son's hard journey with lupus and her mother's experience with breast cancer, and how these experiences of treatment impacted the way she understood her work. Please take time to listen to Pearl's powerful and beautiful story.

Our Stories podcast is pleased to present a conversation with David Frank, MD, PhD, who is the director of the Division of Hematology at Winship Cancer Institute. In this podcast Dr Frank describes the love of science and interest in helping people with serious illness that led him to medical school. With training in medical research, Dr. Frank has found a space to study science that provides hope for future cancer treatments, as well as opportunity for collaborative work with a team of people who are also interested in medical science. While he has only been in Atlanta for four months, he has found his way to the High Art Museum, and looks forward to exploring outdoor spaces in GA. While living in New England he got to hike the northern part of the Appalachian Trial and plans to visit the Georgia Mountains to explore the southern end of the AT. Enjoy this episode of Our Stories and be sure to welcome Dr. Frank to Atlanta when you see him!

Wellness HMO is pleased to present a conversation with Dr Caitlin Elizabeth Taylor for this episode of Our Stories podcast series. Dr Taylor went to medical school at Tulane University in New Orleans before coming to Atlanta for her residency and oncology fellowship at Emory. In this podcast Dr Taylor shares her experiences growing up in a family of health care providers including her father and grandfather who were both physicians who cared for people with cancer. Although she decided not to study pre-med in college, Dr Taylor returned to the doctor training path after college, and after time working as a medical assistant in a cancer center decided to pursue oncology. She had a positive experience working alongside Dr Jane Meisel in the breast center and plans on serving people with breast cancer in the future. To maintain a sense of wellbeing, Dr Taylor is attentive to the joy she finds in spending time with her children and being outdoors.

In this Episode, Sheryl Bluestein, Vice President of Operations for Emory University Hospital Midtown shares how she had an unusual awareness as a teenager that she wanted to become a healthcare administrator- not something most teens dream of! She loved "numbers" and thinking about how systems work, which led her into education in health care administration and business. During her education Sheryl learned about a fellowship at Emory, which set her on a path forward within our institution. Sheryl explores the ways working in cancer care has been personal, through her father's hard battle with brain cancer, and through her step father's more recent battle with pancreatic cancer. She expresses profound gratitude for the multidisciplinary healthcare teams at Winship who helped her family during this time, and this has propelled her in her work supporting systems to provide excellent care for all patients. Sheryl has had a unique opportunity being at the center of planning for the Winship @ Midtown Tower, which she can see rising outside of her window. She is excited for how all of the hard preparatory work will help patients have a more streamlined, more compassionate experience. Sheryl is committed to her wellness in fun ways- improving her tennis game, spending time in her "awesome" neighborhood, and enjoying her family. Please take a listen!

Danielle Roberts MS, MMSc, PA-C

Lead Advanced Practice Provider, Outpatient Hematology/Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Center

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University