Theresa Soriano, MD, MPH, MSSM ’01, is Professor of Medicine, Geriatrics, and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She also serves as Senior Vice President for Care Transitions and Population Health at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, and previously served as Medical Director of the Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors Program, PEAK Health, Mount Sinai Health Homes, Acting Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, and Mount Sinai Health Partners Deputy CMO for Vulnerable Populations, guiding the early years of DSRIP primary care strategy and implementation. After receiving her BS at Cornell University she completed both her MD and MPH at ISMMS.
Primary care specializes in treating the whole person by diagnosing and managing diseases, both acute and chronic, but also by promoting health at all stages of life: encouraging prevention and wellness in the context of patients’ and their families’ cultures and communities, and in line with their goals and preferences. Dr. Soriano’s interest in healthcare stemmed from work as an undergraduate exploring careers in education, social work and even journalism. She discovered that a person’s health was entwined not only with their physical wellbeing but with their social circumstances and unique history.
Dr. Soriano believes that current health policy and payment structures often incentivize physicians to see as many patients and do as many procedures as they can, without taking the patient’s overall prognosis or goals into account. She believes this often directly conflicts with principles of patient-centeredness and population health, which should instead support physicians and other members of a care team to spend time with patients to understand their goals and preferences, to educate patients thoroughly on their diagnoses, and form holistic care plans with them. Medicine as a fee-for-service discipline negatively impacts patient experience and quality, as well as increasing rates of provider burnout and feelings of disillusionment in the profession.
Dr. Soriano tells students to follow their interests and passion, but remember to “stay on the road,” and not get distracted by what your peers may say you should be doing, or what does not really interest you. This means students should pursue their medical studies in line with their personal mission and the values that brought them to medicine in the first place, and stay as focused on the “core” work of being a physician (clinically, educationally or through service and research)- always remembering why they went into medicine in the first place. She notes that current physicians and scientists “owe it to our future colleagues to support them in their pursuit of our wonderful profession” by mentoring aspiring doctors and supporting student scholarships.