ABOUT DR. TERRALON
Terralon Cannon Knight, MD, is a board-certified family physician, speaker, and sought-after career coach. She specializes in helping physicians who are considering nontraditional careers in medicine navigate the transition from clinical medicine to nonclinical careers. Dr. Terralon began her career as a primary care physician in Washington, DC, caring for the District’s medically underserved residents and homeless population in community health centers. She was promoted to Medical Director following her first year, after displaying valuable leadership experience. She continued her work in neighboring Maryland, after her work concluded with the Public Health Service. After searching for a position that would support Dr. Terralon’s desire for more leadership responsibilities, more autonomy, and the needs of her new family, Dr. Terralon landed a position as Medical Director of a young medical informatics company, Inovalon. The experience proved to be valuable, as her first job as a physician executive and introduction to the business of medicine.
After her stent with Inovalon, Dr. Terralon spent transitioned to United Health Group, with which she has held several positions, over the past eight years including Medical Director in multiple divisions and acting Chief Medical Officer for the Virginia Community Plan.
A native of Macon, Mississippi, she has a passion for the underserved, with much of her career spent serving communities in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Dr. Terralon is a summa cum laude graduate of Tougaloo College and obtained her medical degree from the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University. She completed her family medicine residency at University of Texas at Houston. She enjoys traveling, photography, and daily adventures with her husband, Marshall, and three children, Cannon, Allison, and Jackson. Dr. Terralon is Founder and Principal of Knight Coaching, LLC.
MY STORY
As a small town, we also did not have a full scope of medical services. The optometrist came once a month. The dentist came bi-monthly. For many years, we had one lone male senior primary care physician in town. Fortunately, in the 1980s, additional primary care services were provided to my hometown through the Public Health Service by what I now know is the National Health Service Corps.(This would later come full-circle, as I became National Health Service Corps physician who worked with patients immedicably underserved communities of Washington, DC. ) It was through this program that I met Dr. Debra Gabriel, my pediatrician, the first doctor I had met who looked like me. It was the first time I felt a connection to a physician and believed that I could be one. So, once I set my sights on becoming a doctor, there was no stopping me.
I was accepted to the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science and graduated high school at age sixteen. I graduated summa cum laude from Tougaloo College and completed my medical degree at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University. I was the first in my family and community to attend an Ivy League school. I chose the field of family medicine, because it was the most versatile specialty that would allow me to serve all the members in my community. I completed my residency at the University of Texas-Houston and promptly moved to the Washington, DC area. I committed to the National Health Service Corps due to its commitment to delivering care to medically underserved communities, much like the one in which I grew up. In my first job, at the health center, I was promoted to medical director within one short year. Yes, I was living the dream of the small-town girl who made it big.
However, I had a secret, I found myself growing increasingly unhappy. Bureacracy limited my scope of practice. I had less time with patients. The administrative burden increased, the administrative time in my schedule decreased. The practice became all about the numbers.
One day, there was a strange odor outside the clinic, that began to fill the air inside clinic making it difficult to concentrate, almost breathe. Many feared it was a gas leak. We evacuated the clinic and reported the odor the gas company. When I petitioned “the suits”, who worked at another site to officially close the clinic and allow the staff to go home, the answer was no, because the gas company had ruled it was not a gas leak. Therefore, business should continue as usual. I was dumb-founded, confused. I was also six months pregnant with my first child. I left the clinic, instructing the staff to cancel my patients for their safety, and mine. That day, with my tear-soaked eyes opened wider, I also vowed that I while I am here to serve others in medicine, my career in medicine must also serve me well.
Knight Coaching, LLC., was born out of the desire to help other physicians and health professionals ensure that medicine serves them well. My journey to live life on purpose has been serendipitous and fulfilling. Through coaching, I share lessons learned that have helped me along my journey, and I offer the accountability that helps us all win. The most important lesson I have learned is that happy, healthy physicians make for happier, healthier communities.