Colette Edwards, MD MBA, has been active in most segments of the healthcare arena, including, first and foremost, as a practicing gastroenterologist. She has leveraged additional training in health and wellness coaching at the Maryland University of Integrative Health and in health equity as a member of the NIH Scholars Program in translational health disparities.
Dr. Edwards received a BA from Harvard University, an MD from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the Wharton School. She completed her GI fellowship training at the University of California, San Francisco.
Over the course of her career, Colette has served in a variety of roles. They include being the associate medical director of a multispecialty group practice, a healthcare consultant, and serving in health plan medical director roles, with responsibilities which included the design of a hospitalist program, lead for a regional physician advisory council, programming to support physician health, well-being, and workplace satisfaction, collaborations with physician practices and health systems, and clinical lead during the COVID pandemic for a 53,00 employee population which required the development of safety policies and workflows, vetting suppliers, associate education, testing, return-to-work protocols, identification of benefits and support needs, and associate experiences to support physical and mental health and well-being.
Dr. Edwards’ work has encompassed positions at two Fortune 50 companies, including as the national medical lead for health disparities, with an initiative that won a national innovation award and as a corporate medical executive for employee health and well-being, with a multi-year record of national awards won by the team: NBGH Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles, top 10 ranking in the “Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America,” Gold status in the AHA’s Work-place Health Achievement Index, and a citation for Excellence in Mental Health.
Colette is currently the Founder and Chief Medical Officer of pausitive health, an inclusive, holistic, digital health offering for women+ who are on the menopause journey. The program is currently in beta.
Dr. Edwards is also the Managing Editor of the Wharton Healthcare Quarterly and the Chief Medical Advisor for Blog and App Content for BetterMe. She is the author of Be Less Stressed and a McGraw-Hill GI text as well as a co-author of Navigating Your Healthcare Journey: Lessons Learned to Get the Care You Need and Deserve. Finally, Colette is a member of the board of two non-profits, Bread for the City and TD1 Exchange.