Check Out Tanna Donalson’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanna Donalson.

Hi Tanna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a Physician Assistant with a background in Emergency Medicine and Trauma, but more importantly I am a mom to two teenagers, an avid traveler, lover of Africa and a bit of a foodie. I left Corporate Medicine a few years ago and opened a medical spa in Denver called Redbud Medical Spa. I began just taking care of women in all the areas I saw them falling through the cracks in traditional Western Medicine; hormones, peri-partum care, pelvic floor therapy, weight loss and over all vitality and longevity. This model grew quickly into what it is today. I now care for all people of all ages and offer a lot of functional medicine that is founded in science backed western medicine. The combination has proven to be best in my opinion as we have the options to lean towards the prescription-based model, if necessary, but lean heavily on testing, nutrition, exercise and overall optimization before just throwing a drug at every problem, which is often just a band-aid anyway.

Looking back on the reasons I wanted to be a PA, it’s really no surprise things ended up how they did. I just wanted to take great care of people and after many years in the hospital, I began realizing that I was fighting against a very broken system and if I wanted to focus on high quality care and feel great about how I am taking care of people and what I provide,
I was going to have to be on my own, outside of the system. I wish things were different and our healthcare system was equipped to provide higher quality for everyone, however, I am overjoyed that I have found a way to provide care that gives a better quality of life to my patients, where their concerns are heard, and we collaboratively come up with solutions that feel attainable, feasible and don’t break the bank. I believe we have many tools at our fingertips, outside of the broken system, that can help prevent disease and offer creative and effective solutions for treatment if and when disease does arise.

I am originally from Oklahoma but have always been drawn to Colorado and now that I have been here for about 10 years, I definitely feel like this is home and have become very attached to the state and the people and am thrilled to provide high quality, compassionate care here.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I often feel like most things worth having don’t come easy! I have, of course, hit many roadblocks and there have been periods of what has felt like the wilderness as I have found my way to where I am today. First, there is a lot of guilt that can come from leaving corporate medicine. I used to basically live in ER’s and hospitals and was equipped to save lives in that environment and then I stopped doing it, which definitely was difficult to wrestle with. The dilemma was that if I wanted to keep doing that, I had to align with the “system” which I just couldn’t do. There is so much that is broken in our health care system. Financially, it was quite scary to leave a stable reliable income with benefits to chase this dream of providing better care for people. There were times when I didn’t know if I was going to be able to provide. Around the same time that I left the hospital, I also went through a divorce and my two kids were primarily with me. So I had a lot of pressure on my schedule, to be around when my kids were out of school and I also had immense pressure to provide financially. My faith is really what carried me through those times of uncertainty and also a confidence that I really was created to take care of people and if I wanted to do it well, in a way that allowed me to sleep at night, this was the only path for me to take. That faith and confidence paid off.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have a giant passion for Africa, specifically Rwanda. When I was in PA School, I lived in Ghana for a summer to practice medicine there and see what that was like. It was a very hard time and not only did I learn a ton but I confirmed that for the rest of my life, Africa would have a seat at my table. I then got involved with Africa New Life, my favorite organization and they are based in Rwanda. While I haven’t yet gotten involved in the healthcare scene in Rwanda, I hope to in the future. I got to take my kids to Rwanda to see all of the programs and meet our sponsor kids. So while I feel called to practice compassionate care here in Colorado, I also feel called to use the skills I’ve been given in underserved areas as well.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Not to close a door too soon. I think a lot of ideas fizzle and a lot of businesses fail because they close the door and assume failure too soon. It truly is only on the other side of a dark wilderness that you find such deeply rooted purpose, freedom, clarity and a path forward to success. I don’t believe anything worth having is cheap or free, it requires some blood sweat and tears sometimes to get to where you want to go and I think far too many amazing dreams die because people don’t realize this and stick it out. Doing what I am passionate about, that aligns with my education and skillset, even if it wasn’t an overnight success, really was the magic that got me here. I absolutely love what I do and I am grateful for that dark wilderness that led me here.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.redbudmedicalspa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redbudmedicalspa/