All her life, Sandra Hager Eliason was interested in stories: reading them, writing them, telling them. Growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s on the conservative Iron Range of Minnesota, she was expected to become a wife and mother, with a career to “fall back on” in case she couldn’t get married. Pushed by her verbally abusive father to be the perfect girl, she chafed under the restrictions placed on her life. Leaving the plan to be an English teacher behind, and engaged by the patient stories she was typing in her job as a medical records transcriptionist, she decided to go to medical school, her husband and young daughter in tow. She would show the world, and her father, that she could do it.
While struggling through the sexism of medical education in the 1970s, she saw how women were treated like objects, their concerns often dismissed and bodies frequently demeaned. She continued fighting for the rights of patients while she rose in the ranks of medicine, first as her medical group’s Family Medicine department head, then its Medical Director; Chief of Staff of the hospital; and chair of an insurance company quality committee and member of its credentials Committee.
Sandra dedicated her Family Practice career to listening to patient stories. As the neighborhoods around her practice began to change, she realized that her practice was failing patients who were not part of the white middle class. She was awarded a fellowship to study cultural competency—how those not in the mainstream wished to be treated. Understanding that truly listening to patients’ stories and hearing what their dis-ease meant to them allowed her to create a practice dictated by patient needs. As Director of Medical Programs for The Center for Cross Cultural Health, she presented to medical groups throughout the U.S.
You can send me a message or ask me a general question using this form.
I will do my best to get back to you soon!
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.
%20alternate%20headshot.jpg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:100%25/rs=h:500,cg:true)