April 24, 2025 • 9 mins
Meet the Twin Sister Docs—Dr. Elana McDonald, a Board Certified Pediatrician, and Dr. Delana Wardlaw, a Board Certified Family Medicine Physician. On their biweekly podcast, now streaming on YouTube and Spotify, they break down health topics that matter most to our communities—from nutrition and mental health to the impact of social media.
🌐 Website: thetwinsisterdocs.com
📸 Instagram / Threads / X (Twitter): @TwinSisterDocs
📘 Facebook: Twin Sister Docs
💼 LinkedIn: Elana McDonald | Delana Wardlaw, MD, FAAFP
🌐 Website: thetwinsisterdocs.com
📸 Instagram / Threads / X (Twitter): @TwinSisterDocs
📘 Facebook: Twin Sister Docs
💼 LinkedIn: Elana McDonald | Delana Wardlaw, MD, FAAFP
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The morning. Welcome to Insight, a show about empowering our community.
I'm Lorraine Balladmorrow. In Philadelphia, developers can pay a fee
instead of building affordable housing, with that money intended for
the city's Housing Trust Fund, but those payments haven't led
to affordable housing increases communities were promised. I'll be talking
with City council Member Jamie Gotier about a ballot question
(00:20):
that aims to fix that. We'll be chatting with Sabrina Tates,
CEO of Babashi Transition to Hope, one of Philadelphia's most
trusted and impactful health and social service organizations, celebrating forty years.
And we'll be talking with April Lancet, who provides culturally
responsive therapy for black and brown couples. But first, I
met these two extraordinary women a number of years ago
(00:42):
when they were honored by wdas's Women of Excellence luncheon.
And they are certainly well worthy of being honored. They
are twins, and they're known as twin sister Docs, and
they are doctor Elena mcdoun donald and doctor Dalna Wardlow.
(01:03):
And they are the twin sister docs who are raising
our awareness, making sure that we are as healthy as
we need to be. And they actually have their own podcast,
they're on YouTube and Spotify, so we're going to talk
about them and all the good things that they're doing. So,
first of all, thank you so much for joining us
here today. And of course I have to ask you
a few twin questions, because you know that's how it goes.
(01:26):
So you are twins, identical twins, and often it is
said that identical twins have similar interests, and in your case,
you both are doctors. How did that all come about?
Did one of you say yeah, I want to be
a doctor and the other one said, yeah, me too,
or you just had that joint desire and passion for medicine.
(01:47):
Let's talk with doctor McDonald. Let's talk to you Lena.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, so we absolutely have similar tastes across the board,
but when it comes to medicine, I was like to
the party trying to decide to become a physician. I
originally thought I was going to be an attorney, but
I got a summer job at a law office in
Philadelphia over the summer and quickly realized that I did
(02:12):
not want to be an attorney, but I knew I
wanted to help people and I wanted to make a
difference in people's lives, particularly children, and that's how I
landed on medicine. I but definitely was not my first choice.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Delena, tell us about your journey. How did you decide
to become a doctor?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Ironically, medicine was my second choice as well. I thought
I was going to be an elementary school teacher. Atlanta
and I we are products of the Philadelphia Public school system.
We're prograduates of Central High School. But our teachers had
such a positive impact on us from pre K through
twelfth grade that I naturally wanted to be a teacher
(02:50):
because they were such great people and they poured into
us so much. But then, you know, as you're going
through your journey, you realize your likes and your dislikes.
And one of the things that prompted me to go
into medicine was that our grandmother, our maternal grandmother, died
at the age of fifty three of breast cancer. And
we all know that if breast cancer is diagnosed at
(03:10):
early stage, then there's a higher chance of survival. Well,
we were eight years old when she died, but we
didn't realize what she died until we were in high school,
and it was at that time that I wanted to live.
People want people to live longer lives. Grandma died at
a very young age, and I just wanted people to
live longer lives and I wanted to become a doctor.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
So important to have representation in the medical field because
we know that there are health disparities in communities of color,
and I know that that is also something that you
both are very engaged in its making sure that we
can narrow that gap. And there is a tremendous gap,
and you deal with so many different issues related to
(03:51):
health in communities of color. So I'm wondering if you
could talk a little bit more. Let's start with you,
doctor McDonald, about your mission, because your mission is to
spread the word of ways in which we can be
healthier and live longer lives.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Twin Sister Docs was really born out of the idea
that people would always come to us and say, can
I ask you a question because I don't feel comfortable
talking to my doctor, And we would say, well, that's
problem number one. You know you need to go to
a physician that you can absolutely feel a thousand percent
comfortable with to talk to. So we realized that we
(04:29):
had a bigger We needed to have a bigger reach
outside of our offices where were providing quality care. But also,
as the studies have shown, there are significant health care
disparities in our country, and African Americans and other people
of color and marginalized communities are significantly impacted by those
(04:51):
they're negatively impacted by those disparities. So twin Sister docs
are there to increase the awareness of health care disparities
but also help us to close that gap. And we
want to close that gap by one providing individuals with
information that will allow them to go back to their
doctors that have a conversation which leads to more of
(05:13):
a partnership between the physician and the patient and lead
to more compliance and lead to transformational outcomes.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Well, you know, doctor Wordlow, I think that something your
sister said really struck me, and that is that people
would come up to her and say, I don't feel
comfortable talking to my doctor, but I feel comfortable talking
to you. And I think that is at the core
of the issue that so many of us don't feel
comfortable because we don't feel heard, and so often women,
(05:44):
particularly women of color. But you know, people of color
in general face that unconscious bias, that doctors are not
always even aware that they're exhibiting, and yet they are,
and that has tremendous impact on the health of individuals,
wouldn't you say, doctor Wardlow.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Oh, absolutely, And that unconscious bias, that implicit bias, that
lack of cultural competency. It comes out during the visits
and so the patients feel like they are not you know,
they're not being heard, they feel like they're not being understood.
And so it is important for the medical establishment, the
(06:23):
medical professional in general, to make sure that people and
our profession are aware of implicit bias, aware of cultural competency,
and that these things are mandatory aspects of curriculums, because otherwise,
as you said, the physician may not even know that
they have this bias, but that they are not culturally competent.
(06:43):
And if you are not aware of the challenges of
the community that you are observing, if you're not aware
of their challenges, then you're going to miss the boat
on some certain issues.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Absolutely, doctor McDonald. The podcast that you do addresses so
many different issues. We're not only talking about what we
often think of as things doctors talk about You know, disease,
but you talk about nutrition, you talk about exercise, mental health, sleep,
social media. All of these factors have a tremendous impact
(07:14):
on not only our health but our well being. So
tell us more about why you've decided to focus on
these types of issues.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
We created the podcast because we know that podcasts are
very popular, but podcasts one wanted to extend our reach
outside of our office, outside of the local community. Podcast
gives us more of a broader reach nationally, but also
it also reaches individuals who feels like they're not being seen,
(07:41):
not being heard, And the overall goal of the podcast
is to help people live their healthiest best lives. You
will hear us say that multiple times on the podcast,
and by providing information to just about healthy nutrition, physical activity,
mental health, preventative care, mammograms, pap smears, colonoscopies, it gives
(08:06):
our listeners the information they need to go back again,
talk to their doctors, and also live the healthiest life
possible again. Do I need to eat more fruits? Do
I need to eat more vegetables? I need to cut
back on the coffee with all of the sugar and cream,
you know? Do I need to cut back on the
fry foods and the processed foods. Do I need to
(08:27):
make sure I'm getting more sleep? Oh, and then I
get my mammogram this year. Then I get my colonoscoped.
So our goal is every time someone listens to the podcast,
they get another piece of information that will allow them
to live a healthier life.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
And doctor Wardlow, how can people find you?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So? You can find us on all social media at
twin Sister Docks. That's Facebook, that's Instagram, that's threads. You
can also find us on our website at btoonsisterdocks dot com.
You can also find us on our podcast, the Twin
Sister Docs Podcast, which is on Spotify and on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Fantastic doctor Elena McDonald Board Certified Pediatrician, doctor Delina Wardlow,
Board Certified Family Medicine Physician. They are twins and they
are awesome, and I want to thank you both for
joining us here today and check out the podcast both
on Spotify and I'm sure all the different platforms you
can find podcasts and on YouTube as well. Thank you
(09:27):
so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Thank you, thank you so much for having us, Loreene.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
We'll have more insight after these messages,
The morning. Welcome to Insight, a show about empowering our community.
I'm Lorraine Balladmorrow. In Philadelphia, developers can pay a fee
instead of building affordable housing, with that money intended for
the city's Housing Trust Fund, but those payments haven't led
to affordable housing increases communities were promised. I'll be talking
with City council Member Jamie Gotier about a ballot question
(00:20):
that aims to fix that. We'll be chatting with Sabrina Tates,
CEO of Babashi Transition to Hope, one of Philadelphia's most
trusted and impactful health and social service organizations, celebrating forty years.
And we'll be talking with April Lancet, who provides culturally
responsive therapy for black and brown couples. But first, I
met these two extraordinary women a number of years ago
(00:42):
when they were honored by wdas's Women of Excellence luncheon.
And they are certainly well worthy of being honored. They
are twins, and they're known as twin sister Docs, and
they are doctor Elena mcdoun donald and doctor Dalna Wardlow.
(01:03):
And they are the twin sister docs who are raising
our awareness, making sure that we are as healthy as
we need to be. And they actually have their own podcast,
they're on YouTube and Spotify, so we're going to talk
about them and all the good things that they're doing. So,
first of all, thank you so much for joining us
here today. And of course I have to ask you
a few twin questions, because you know that's how it goes.
(01:26):
So you are twins, identical twins, and often it is
said that identical twins have similar interests, and in your case,
you both are doctors. How did that all come about?
Did one of you say yeah, I want to be
a doctor and the other one said, yeah, me too,
or you just had that joint desire and passion for medicine.
(01:47):
Let's talk with doctor McDonald. Let's talk to you Lena.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, so we absolutely have similar tastes across the board,
but when it comes to medicine, I was like to
the party trying to decide to become a physician. I
originally thought I was going to be an attorney, but
I got a summer job at a law office in
Philadelphia over the summer and quickly realized that I did
(02:12):
not want to be an attorney, but I knew I
wanted to help people and I wanted to make a
difference in people's lives, particularly children, and that's how I
landed on medicine. I but definitely was not my first choice.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Delena, tell us about your journey. How did you decide
to become a doctor?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Ironically, medicine was my second choice as well. I thought
I was going to be an elementary school teacher. Atlanta
and I we are products of the Philadelphia Public school system.
We're prograduates of Central High School. But our teachers had
such a positive impact on us from pre K through
twelfth grade that I naturally wanted to be a teacher
(02:50):
because they were such great people and they poured into
us so much. But then, you know, as you're going
through your journey, you realize your likes and your dislikes.
And one of the things that prompted me to go
into medicine was that our grandmother, our maternal grandmother, died
at the age of fifty three of breast cancer. And
we all know that if breast cancer is diagnosed at
(03:10):
early stage, then there's a higher chance of survival. Well,
we were eight years old when she died, but we
didn't realize what she died until we were in high school,
and it was at that time that I wanted to live.
People want people to live longer lives. Grandma died at
a very young age, and I just wanted people to
live longer lives and I wanted to become a doctor.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
So important to have representation in the medical field because
we know that there are health disparities in communities of color,
and I know that that is also something that you
both are very engaged in its making sure that we
can narrow that gap. And there is a tremendous gap,
and you deal with so many different issues related to
(03:51):
health in communities of color. So I'm wondering if you
could talk a little bit more. Let's start with you,
doctor McDonald, about your mission, because your mission is to
spread the word of ways in which we can be
healthier and live longer lives.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Twin Sister Docs was really born out of the idea
that people would always come to us and say, can
I ask you a question because I don't feel comfortable
talking to my doctor, And we would say, well, that's
problem number one. You know you need to go to
a physician that you can absolutely feel a thousand percent
comfortable with to talk to. So we realized that we
(04:29):
had a bigger We needed to have a bigger reach
outside of our offices where were providing quality care. But also,
as the studies have shown, there are significant health care
disparities in our country, and African Americans and other people
of color and marginalized communities are significantly impacted by those
(04:51):
they're negatively impacted by those disparities. So twin Sister docs
are there to increase the awareness of health care disparities
but also help us to close that gap. And we
want to close that gap by one providing individuals with
information that will allow them to go back to their
doctors that have a conversation which leads to more of
(05:13):
a partnership between the physician and the patient and lead
to more compliance and lead to transformational outcomes.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Well, you know, doctor Wordlow, I think that something your
sister said really struck me, and that is that people
would come up to her and say, I don't feel
comfortable talking to my doctor, but I feel comfortable talking
to you. And I think that is at the core
of the issue that so many of us don't feel
comfortable because we don't feel heard, and so often women,
(05:44):
particularly women of color. But you know, people of color
in general face that unconscious bias, that doctors are not
always even aware that they're exhibiting, and yet they are,
and that has tremendous impact on the health of individuals,
wouldn't you say, doctor Wardlow.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Oh, absolutely, And that unconscious bias, that implicit bias, that
lack of cultural competency. It comes out during the visits
and so the patients feel like they are not you know,
they're not being heard, they feel like they're not being understood.
And so it is important for the medical establishment, the
(06:23):
medical professional in general, to make sure that people and
our profession are aware of implicit bias, aware of cultural competency,
and that these things are mandatory aspects of curriculums, because otherwise,
as you said, the physician may not even know that
they have this bias, but that they are not culturally competent.
(06:43):
And if you are not aware of the challenges of
the community that you are observing, if you're not aware
of their challenges, then you're going to miss the boat
on some certain issues.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Absolutely, doctor McDonald. The podcast that you do addresses so
many different issues. We're not only talking about what we
often think of as things doctors talk about You know, disease,
but you talk about nutrition, you talk about exercise, mental health, sleep,
social media. All of these factors have a tremendous impact
(07:14):
on not only our health but our well being. So
tell us more about why you've decided to focus on
these types of issues.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
We created the podcast because we know that podcasts are
very popular, but podcasts one wanted to extend our reach
outside of our office, outside of the local community. Podcast
gives us more of a broader reach nationally, but also
it also reaches individuals who feels like they're not being seen,
(07:41):
not being heard, And the overall goal of the podcast
is to help people live their healthiest best lives. You
will hear us say that multiple times on the podcast,
and by providing information to just about healthy nutrition, physical activity,
mental health, preventative care, mammograms, pap smears, colonoscopies, it gives
(08:06):
our listeners the information they need to go back again,
talk to their doctors, and also live the healthiest life
possible again. Do I need to eat more fruits? Do
I need to eat more vegetables? I need to cut
back on the coffee with all of the sugar and cream,
you know? Do I need to cut back on the
fry foods and the processed foods. Do I need to
(08:27):
make sure I'm getting more sleep? Oh, and then I
get my mammogram this year. Then I get my colonoscoped.
So our goal is every time someone listens to the podcast,
they get another piece of information that will allow them
to live a healthier life.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
And doctor Wardlow, how can people find you?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So? You can find us on all social media at
twin Sister Docks. That's Facebook, that's Instagram, that's threads. You
can also find us on our website at btoonsisterdocks dot com.
You can also find us on our podcast, the Twin
Sister Docs Podcast, which is on Spotify and on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Fantastic doctor Elena McDonald Board Certified Pediatrician, doctor Delina Wardlow,
Board Certified Family Medicine Physician. They are twins and they
are awesome, and I want to thank you both for
joining us here today and check out the podcast both
on Spotify and I'm sure all the different platforms you
can find podcasts and on YouTube as well. Thank you
(09:27):
so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Thank you, thank you so much for having us, Loreene.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
We'll have more insight after these messages,
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.