SCRANTON, PA — As her elementary school classmates dreamed about being firefighters, ballerinas and movie stars, Erin McFadden’s aspirations focused on the miracles of modern medicine.

“I remember in third grade, writing my first essay on what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote that I was going to be a doctor,” said Dr. McFadden, who now serves as deputy chief medical officer of The Wright Center for Community Health, medical director of The Wright Center for Community Health Scranton Practice, dean of undergraduate medical and interprofessional education and core faculty member for The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency. “My friends and family tease me about that to this day.”

Dr. McFadden, 43, doesn’t know why she chose medicine as her calling. She’s the first physician in her family. The northwestern PA native credits her father, Mike McFadden, a longtime federal government employee who loved animals and nature, for fostering her love of science and honing her attention to detail.

At the University of Scranton, she studied biology and philosophy and earned her medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. All the while, she worked part-time jobs—including Fresno’s, Red Lobster and Starbucks. She said those jobs helped her become a better doctor. 

“As a waitress, if the customer wasn’t happy, I wouldn’t get tipped. So I learned to listen, anticipate what they needed, and read their body language,” Dr. McFadden said. She added that the same principles apply in medicine. “It’s important to pick up how a patient feels—what they’re not saying; what they’re scared to ask. Medicine is a service, and if we’re not meeting our patients’ needs, a lot of that is our fault.”

‘Nerve-wracking at first’

After realizing her initial goal of becoming a surgeon wasn’t a good fit, Dr. McFadden sought the advice of Dr. Robert Wright, a family friend. The founder of the Scranton-Temple Residency Program—which would eventually become The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education—recruited her to an internal medicine residency. 

“I was nervous because I knew surgery, but I didn’t know how to manage a patient’s chronic illness,” she said. “I studied it, but I’d never practiced it in real life. So, the residency was a little nerve-wracking at first.”

She found her footing and, after graduating from the residency program in 2012, worked at Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton. She joined The Wright Center for Community Health as a physician and member of the internal medicine residency faculty in 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

The Waverly Township resident quickly emerged as a leader, starting with her participation in a statewide effort to assist personal care, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities with pandemic care in Northeast PA. As COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out, Dr. McFadden volunteered her time to vaccinate fellow health care workers around the region. She later headed an outpatient infusion center at The Wright Center for Community Health Scranton Practice, providing monoclonal antibody treatment for patients with severe COVID-19.

Mentor and longtime family friend and fellow Wright Center physician Dr. Edward Dzielak is not surprised by her success.

“During her residency training, she excelled in her responsibilities to her patients and colleagues,” Dr. Dzielak said. “When I had the opportunity to interact with her on rounds, she was always inquisitive, professional, knowledgeable and skilled in the care she provided. She quickly distinguished herself as a leader and educator.”

‘The next generation’

Dr. Erin McFadden

In part for her role as a teacher, Dr. McFadden received the Dr. Ann Preston Women in Medicine Award from the Pennsylvania Eastern Region Chapter of the American College of Physicians. The award recognizes a chapter member whose outstanding efforts and achievements have promoted career success, leadership and overall quality of life for women in medicine, fostering tomorrow’s women leaders in medicine. 

The award is named after medical pioneer Dr. Ann Preston, a member of the first class of women who enrolled in the Female (later Women’s) Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1850. 

After the Board of Censors of the Philadelphia Medical Society effectively banned women physicians from public teaching clinics of the city, she raised funds to start a new hospital where teaching could occur, and opened The Women’s Hospital in 1858. 

Dr. Preston later created a nursing school and was named the first woman dean of the Women’s Medical College in 1866.

“The award resonates with me because, like Dr. Preston, I believe strongly in educating the next generation of doctors,” Dr. McFadden said. 

Dr. McFadden believes high-quality primary and preventive care should be accessible to individuals of all income levels and insurance statuses, including the underinsured and uninsured. The Wright Center is working to expand its practice in Wilkes-Barre and recently opened a new practice in North Scranton, improving access to care for individuals of all ages.

“Having lived through the COVID-19 pandemic, my dream now is to help change the face of health care and expand the services we provide,” Dr. McFadden said. “We have a very bright future.”

For more information, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570/230-0019.

Contributed by the Wright Center.