Meet Susana

Susana grew up in Spain. As part of a generation of women breaking tradition, she was among the first selected to attend the prestigious all-male Nuestra Señora del Pilar Academy and was subsequently admitted to the Medical School at The Autonoma University of Madrid. Autonoma is known for its leadership in the field of neuroscience and was where she was first introduced to what later become her life interest. Upon completion of her medical education in Spain in 1992, Susana immigrated to the United States, where she attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and earned her second medical degree in 1996, as a student member of the prestigious Harrison’s Society. Under the influence and mentorship of two extraordinary physicians, the late Dr. John Whitaker and Dr. Camilo Gomez, she completed her specialty and fellowship training in the fields of Vascular Neurology, Neurocritical Care, and Neuroendovascular Surgery.

She acquired her first leadership role as the Chief Resident of the Department of Neurology at UAB. Since then, her medical career has taken her to various locations with leadership positions including Chair of Woman in Neurocritical Care, Chair of Diversity of the American Stroke Association (ASA), Birmingham Chapter, Board of Directors of the Akron Chapter, and Director of the Neuroscience Institute at Summa Hearth System. Her roles in these organizations earned her significant credibility. But as the responsibilities and teams grew bigger, she realized that her resume was not enough. Great leadership is not a skill you are born with. Rather, it is something that needs to be learned and developed.

In 2017, Susana was granted a scholarship by The American Academy of Neurology to participate in a leadership training program, “Woman Leadership in Neurology”. This was to be her introduction to the science behind leadership and the beginning of her constant pursuit of knowledge in this field. In spring 2019 she met Dr. Marcia Raynols at a leadership seminar in Cleveland focusing on the use of Coaching Culture to drive change. The concept of “Transformational Coaching” and the neuroscience and behavioral neurology behind it proved fascinating and sparked an interest that resulted in her subsequent pursuit of formal training as a coach through the Healthcare Coaching Institute.

Now a Certified Member of the International Coaching Federation, and with multiple other certificates in the field of leadership, she strives to use her skills to help other healthcare leaders to achieve their own goals while continuing to practice her own leadership skills on a daily basis.