Johanna Vidal-Phelan

You currently serve as the Senior Medical Director of Quality and Pediatrics for University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (UPMC) Insurance Division and Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UPMC. Could you tell us about your day to day and your path to this role?

As with any physician during the COVID-19 era, each day is unique and incredibly busy, which is something I greatly enjoy. As Senior Director of Quality and Pediatrics at UPMC Insurance Division, I work directly with many teams to achieve our company’s quality goals. Collaboration is key, and one must remain fluid, in a state of readiness, always prepared to recognize, prioritize, and be ready for any new emergent opportunities. In my role, I support our clinical teams, from care management to health coaches, while also engaging in opportunities for strategic improvement. I work closely with our Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer, providing insight and support for our various initiatives and programs. Although my main role is with the Insurance Division, I am grateful for the opportunity to continue actively practicing pediatric medicine through UPMC Children’s Hospital. I recently moved to Pittsburgh and joined a wonderful group of physicians that support the needs of underserved children and their families and are passionate about educating the next generation of pediatricians.

What interested you about becoming a Fellow of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia?

Although I recently moved to Pittsburgh, I attended medical school “across the bridge” from Philadelphia in Camden, NJ, and practiced medicine in the region for many years. Since my early medical school years, I knew of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The dean of our medical school took our 4th year medical student class to tour the Mütter Museum prior to graduation. I recall visiting the special book collection where our dean showed us an antique book, with beautifully hand-made pictures and descriptions. What I found fascinating was that such an old book could still be used to teach medical students. By looking at its pictures, we learned the classic physical findings of advance Addison’s disease, a picture I have engraved in my memory. I walked out of the Museum with a new appreciation for our field’s pioneers and was reminded that a critical aspect in medicine is the history and physical exam. During the Mütter Museum visit I also realized the privilege and responsibility I had in the process of attending and graduating from medical school. As a minority woman in medicine, my visit to the Mütter reminded me of the challenges women and minorities have faced and continue to experience when pursuing higher education and a career in medicine. Although we have come a long way, we still have many barriers to overcome to achieve full equality and recognition.  It was during those early formative years of my career that I realized with hard work and determination, one day I could also join The College of Physicians. And although my career has taken me to different parts of the country, I have never forgotten my first interaction with and admiration for The College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with the College’s Wohlreich Junior Fellows Program this past August. Would you share that experience and how you got involved?  

After joining the College as a Fellow, I was approached to volunteer as a speaker for the College’s . The program was founded in 2009 for Philadelphia high school students from historically excluded communities to foster their interests in healthcare and medicine. As a speaker, I was eager to meet the students and encourage them in their interest. During my presentation, I had the opportunity to discuss with the students pertinent and timely information related to vaccine hesitancy, the COVID-19 vaccine, and the impact of the pandemic in communities of color. The students were engaged and asked great questions. They were thinking critically about the subject presented and were eager to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine and to address myths they had heard from conversations with their families and peers.

The goal of my presentation was to empower the youth to advocate in their communities for the COVID-19 vaccine. I wanted to teach them where to find reliable sources of information, and to challenge them to think critically and to evaluate the information they encounter via social media channels. At the end of the presentation, I encouraged the students to never give up and to continue their journey to excel in school. I truly enjoyed the experience and would be thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in it again.

Tell us about one of your favorite items in the Library or Museum, or your favorite aspect of the College.  

One of my favorite aspects of the College is the opportunity to network with other colleagues and to participate in volunteering activities, like the George and Judy Wohlreich Junior Fellows Program. Although the pandemic has limited our opportunities for more face-to-face interactions, The College of Physicians has done a great job engaging its Fellows and keeping them informed. One of my “bucket-list items” after the pandemic is to return to Philadelphia and bring my family to the Mütter Museum and the Historical Medical Library to share with my children the legacy and the privilege that the practice of medicine represents to our “familia”.

You recently posted on Twitter that your son received his second COVID-19 vaccination at his pediatrician’s office. I was wondering what that was like for you as a parent and how your son viewed the experience.

As a parent and pediatrician, I couldn’t wait for my sons to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. My high-school-aged son received the vaccine as soon as it was approved for his age group, but we had to wait until late summer for our youngest son’s 12th birthday for him to be vaccinated. Our entire family waited with much anticipation, as he was the last in our family to be vaccinated against the virus. Upon turning 12, that same week, both my husband and I gladly took him to his pediatrician to receive his COVID-19 vaccine.  He did very well, was so elated, and it was just days before starting his new school year when he received his second dose. As individuals and as a family, we couldn’t be more grateful.

I’ve been asked why I shared my family’s COVID-19 immunization journey on social media. I believe that as healthcare leaders, we have a duty to fight the increasing misinformation our patients and communities experience on social media. As physicians, we are subject matter experts in our fields. By sharing my decision to get immunized as a healthcare worker, and how I have chosen to immunize my family, I am leading by example. As a Latina physician, I have also shared my family’s immunization journey in Spanish, with the goal of advocating for COVID-19 vaccinations. As the audience reads about a parent and pediatrician who has chosen to immunize her kids, my hope is that the positive messaging helps build trust in the vaccine. I would like to also encourage the Fellows of The College of Physicians to use their powerful voices to fight misinformation and use the tools provided by social media to inform and advocate in favor of the COVID-19 vaccine.

We are in the middle of Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), would you feel comfortable speaking to the importance of Hispanic-Latinx representation in healthcare careers? Congratulations on being recognized by Al Dia as a “2021 Top Doc in Medicine”!

Every year, from September 15 to October 15, the U.S. celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month. This year’s observance theme is: “Esperanza: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage and Hope.” Now, more than ever, we need to bring attention to the underrepresentation of minorities in healthcare, especially Hispanics.

The Hispanic population in the U.S. has currently reached 60.6 million, making up 18% of the U.S. population, having grown 23% since 2010. The Hispanic population now accounts for more than half of the total population growth in the U.S. alone. In Pennsylvania, the Hispanic population has also grown, from 720,000 people, in 2010 to 1.05 million people in 2020, making up 8.1% of Pennsylvania’s total population. Unfortunately, according to the AAMC, only 5.8% of active physicians identify themselves as Hispanic, and only 2% of the nation’s physicians identify themselves as Latina physicians. These statistics clearly reflect that our current physician workforce is falling short of reflecting our nation’s diversity. Personally, I believe this is a call to action for us all.

One of the solutions to addressing the equal representation of minorities in healthcare is mentorship. I fiercely advocate on the importance of mentorship, as so many mentors have enriched my career and supported my dreams of becoming a physician. Mentorship programs like the College’s Wohlreich Junior Fellow Program and the Society of Ibero Latin American Medical Professionals (SILAMP) are very important. Another program that I look forward to participating in every fall is the Esperanza College of Eastern University Minorities in Health Sciences Symposium. During the symposium, I get a chance to interact with high school students interested in pursuing a career in medicine, and I also meet colleagues that have the same passion for mentorship as me.

I would also like to caution about the misconception that the mentorship of minority students should be done by minority faculty.  When I look back at my career and the various mentors that supported my professional growth and development, most of my mentors were not of minority background. To increase equal representation of minorities in medicine, we need the engagement and support of all. Just like minority students have much to offer, so do mentors and sponsors from all backgrounds. We are all responsible to develop a culture that supports and addresses the healthcare needs of our growing ethnic and racial groups in the U.S. We need to commit to diversifying the physician workforce and I believe that The College of Physicians is well positioned to lead these changes.

You have been incredibly dedicated to ensuring Spanish-speaking communities and patients receive the most up-to-date and accurate information on COVID-19. Could you speak to the most effective ways you found to disseminate this information and how you see the College being of help to your efforts in the future?

As a Latina physician, I bear an enormous responsibility to do everything I can to continue educating my community.  I take an active role in educating my immediate family in Puerto Rico and across the U.S., as well as the community I proudly serve.  It is a privilege to be able to communicate in Spanish, understanding the culture and beliefs, providing much-needed advice, and keeping the community updated.  

During the earliest days of the pandemic, when access to COVID-19 information in Spanish was extremely limited, the patients and families I was working with consistently expressed their frustration in trying to access up to date pandemic news, guidelines, and recommendations. As local recommendations changed, I witnessed firsthand how the community I am both a part of and serve struggled to stay informed. During those initial days, the Spanish-speaking community had limited access to reliable, relevant, regularly updated information. When ABC27 (Harrisburg, PA) reached out to UPMC for a Spanish-speaking physician who would be willing to participate in a news segment regarding COVID-19, I jumped at the opportunity. What started out as a small news segment about COVID-19, grew into a weekly segment, airing every Friday during the first few months of the pandemic. These interviews and updates provided the Spanish-speaking community of Central PA with the latest information on the pandemic, taught viewers how to use a mask, provided safety tips to protect families and children from the pandemic, and relayed the latest recommendations from government and health officials. These news segments also provided the opportunity for us to directly answer questions from the community with evidence-based information.

Through collaboration with colleagues, coordinated group calls were organized to address the impact of the pandemic in our community. These events are a very powerful lesson: our communities are hungry for timely COVID-19 information in their primary language.

One of the most crucial things that the pandemic has taught me is the importance of using all types of media communication to reach out to our communities. From radio shows to town halls, conference calls to television news interviews, our patients and communities need access to reliable, accurate COVID-19 vaccine information. As healthcare professionals and Fellows of the College, we need to empower our communities to protect our vulnerable members and to address misinformation. Misinformation is negatively impacting our minority communities and the growing level of mistrust for healthcare is real. Our continuous, consistent efforts to connect with our patients and members must focus on building long-lasting trust and addressing their needs, one patient at a time. 

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