Title: Professor and Director
Company: Morehouse School of Medicine
Location: Stone Mountain, Georgia, United States
Sonja S. Hutchins, MD, MPH, DrPH, FACPM, Professor and Director at Morehouse School of Medicine, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in community health and preventive medicine.
Dr. Hutchins became involved in her profession because of the encouragement from her parents and family as she grew up and lived on a farm in Georgia. Her entire family were people dedicated to serving others. They understood the importance of the government and working with them. She grew up with five siblings and altogether they learned the value of hard work in professions. Dr. Hutchins earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Cornell University in 1979. She then received a Doctor of Medicine from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1983. After receiving this degree, she became a resident in internal medicine at Washington Hospital Center from 1983 to 1984. Dr. Hutchins then served in a residency in preventive medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1984, remaining until 1986. During her residency, she matriculated at Johns Hopkins University, earning a Master of Public Health in immunology and infectious diseases in 1985.
Dr. Hutchins’ career highlight that stood out the most was finding a program for insured and underinsured children at no cost. This was also done in the high-risk areas. The program was fully funded under the Clinton Administration, which helped eliminate diseases on children since the early 1990s and has continued to do so for the past 20 years. It closed the gap between the different ethnic populations in regard to vaccinations and diseases and she feels grateful to help others in this respect. The professional part of her life is to be a part of an effort to eliminate disease from continuous transmission in the U.S. It was inspirational to her to hear the story of eradicating of smallpox around the world. Dr. Hutchins began her career in 1986 as an epidemic intelligence officer at the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, staying until 1988. She then became a medical director and medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she remained until she retired in 2017. Since 2017, she has been a professor and director of the Public Health and Preventative Medicine Residency and a professor of the Department of Community Health at Morehouse School of Medicine. As a testament to her success, Dr. Hutchins was named to Outstanding Young Women in America in 1991, inducted into the East Orange Hall of Fame in 2019, received the Scroll of Merit Award from the National Medical Association in 2019, and has received various U.S. Public Health Service Awards. She is also listed in the 24th edition of Who’s Who in the South and South West.
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