Meet Sosena Kebede

We recently connected with Sosena Kebede and have shared our conversation below.

Sosena , thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

I believe generosity is more than giving, it is even more than giving abundantly- it is giving with willingness and with conviction. I learned that through caring for patients over two decades. The healthcare system is not known to be generous to patients. It is especially not generous with the time it gives patients. Even when patients present with complex medical issues patients are given on average 15 minutes of face time with doctors. I have worked in healthcare quality improvement efforts for decades and I have trained many healthcare workers in the concept of delivering high quality care to patients. We teach healthcare workers to uphold the 6 pillars of quality care: safety, timeliness, effectiveness, equity, efficiency and patient-centeredness. What we don’t do is give healthcare workers the time they need to translate these concepts into reality. We have a system that forces (or rewards) physicians to see 20 patients per day. Physicians’ success is measured by their ability to function in an assembly line style of production that maximizes profit. This dehumanizing approach to healthcare service delivery is the anti-thesis of generosity and the root cause of untold amount of harm to patients and physicians alike. This is why I left the traditional model of care and opened my own direct primary care clinic where I give each patient an hour of visit time. By keeping a small panel of patients and giving unhurried, quality care to them, I have also relieved myself from the stress of meeting institutional demands for productivity that exploits primary care doctors.

Creating a practice in which patients are truly seen and heard requires a generous approach to care. It is through generosity—with our knowledge, skills, and time—that we become worthy of the trust patients place in us.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am Ethiopian-American, who has lived in many countries before moving to the US in high school. I graduated from Durham High School in Durham, NC, got my Bachelor of Science from Duke University, my medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and my Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

I am an internal medicine doctor and a public health professional with 23 years of healthcare work spanning clinical care, public health, global health, research, healthcare leadership and consultancy at various institutions. I have worked at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health as a faculty for several years. I have also worked as a global health worker for Yale University School of Public Health and as a consultant for the World Bank. Just before starting my own clinic in Atlanta about two years ago, I was a Chief Medical Officer for a clinic in Hartford, CT, so I have worn many hats within the healthcare field.

My clinic, Saliglasa Direct Primary care is a subscription-based primary care and consulting practice which focuses on quality of healthcare and patient engagement. Besides providing medical care to individual patients, Saliglasa also offers training and consultancy services to organizations that want to improve their healthcare service delivery and enhance health outcomes of their clients.


I am passionate about community empowerment and public health, I am a huge fan of being out in nature- hiking, jogging, walking… I love to travel and enjoy intellectual conversations.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

-Find what you love and do that- if you can
-Find a group who can support you in your life journey, including in your career
-Stay close to nature, be out in nature as often as you can

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Anam Cara, by John O’Donohue

This book is so full of life changing and life affirming principles and it includes reminders that we belong to our bodies and that there is inherent wisdom within our bodies. A quote I love from this book is “one of the most sacred duties of one’s destiny is the duty to be yourself”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.saliglasa.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sosenakebedemdmph/