This doctor is smashing ceilings as the first Black woman to lead the adult neurosurgery department at the Detroit Medical Center (DMC).
According to Click On Detroit, Dr. Sonia Eden has made history repeatedly! The Detroit native not only made history recently at DMC, but she was also the first Black woman to train in neurological surgery and complete a residency at the University of Michigan.
On top of that, she was one of the first women of color to major in mechanical engineering at Yale University.
Since age four, Dr. Eden has dreamt of becoming a surgeon often performing fake brain surgeries on her mother to cure her migraines.
Now, Dr. Eden is making that dream come true, as she leaves the private practice in Kalamazoo, MI that she’s worked at for the past 12 years to head to DMC Harper University Hospital as the new Chief of Neurosurgery.
“I’m here to show every little girl out there that you can be whatever you want to be, you just set your mind forward and work hard, and you can do it,” said Dr. Eden.
According to Eden, only 8% of women are neurosurgeons and just 33 of that percentage are African Americans. She also told Click On Detroit that Black women neurosurgeons only make up 0.5 percent of the neurosurgeons in America.
As the new leader of the DMC adult neurosurgery department, she is on a mission to not only address health disparities in her hometown but increase the current percentage of Black women who make up neurosurgeons in the U.S.
“I have to come to Detroit to invest in the city that invested heavily in me,” shared Dr. Eden. “This is where my heart is. This is where my home is. It means a lot to come back and help in the growth of a program and something great for the citizens of Detroit.”
How’s that for a dream come true? Congratulations Dr. Sonia Eden.
