About Dr. Hansa

Raised by a single parent, hard work and overcoming challenges were truly a part of my upbringing. My mom, an immigrant with a graduate degree in Sanskrit, a language that was not relevant in Canada, re-educated herself by taking evening classes while holding down a job and raising me and my 2 sisters. She was a strong, remarkable parent and an amazing role model.

Following in my mom’s footsteps I have worked part-time and summer jobs since the age of 14. After medical school and residency, when I married and finally hoped to have children, we struggled with infertility. Specialists helped us, and we were grateful to have two wonderful twin babies. They were born premature, and had learning challenges as young children. It took a village but eventually they were able to have a smooth pathway in school.

Parenting is hard work — even for a pediatrician!

Working pediatric ER shifts and being a medical director at a major hospital center while raising two young children with learning differences eventually took a toll and led to fatigue and burnout. I struggled and eventually decided to take a different road to find balance and to do what I was passionate about—making healthcare better through empowering patients.

As Senior Medical Director at WebMD, I could reach millions of people through relevant digital health content, meeting them wherever they were. I helped build apps and worked with partners such as Apple, Scripps, and other innovation leaders as well as the White House, Jed Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). My most recent transition was to Chief Medical Officer of Medscape Education, again to help raise awareness and educate doctors, nurses and healthcare staff. In this role, I produced a documentary on resiliency, podcasts, and helped launch mental wellbeing platform. I also became certified as a Cognitive Based Compassion Training Instructor at Emory University and I now teach about self care, the importance of connections, and making change in your life.

My hope as a thought leader in resiliency, women’s health, pediatrics, and innovation is to offer patients a toolbox for whole health. I believe that a 360-degree approach to health is key, and should span traditional western to Eastern medicine, telemedicine to digital and wearables. We should constantly adapt innovative ways to better our health.

I’ve been fortunate to have two decades of clinical experience combined with expertise in digital communication and innovation leadership. I’ve learned deeply about emotional and mental health through training at Emory University and also, personally, the challenges of being a single parent. For all of us to be healthy and strong, It’s important to be open to and understand the impact of emotional wellbeing on physical health and life, and to embrace innovative digital health technologies to help us access care.

This will make our health amazing, our healthcare seamless, and lead to better outcomes — and a better life!