Meet Dr. Corinna Saldanha
Meet Corinna Saldanha, DO
The ArMA Member Spotlight this month is Dr. Corinna Saldanha. She specializes in anesthesiology and has over 18 years of experience in the medical field. Dr. Saldanha has been an ArMA member since 2019. She is a fierce advocate of organized medicine, and ArMA is thankful for her membership.
Learn more about Dr. Saldanha below!
What inspires you?
My career in medicine was inspired by the physicians who saved my mother decades ago. Before beginning college, and while personally trying to figure out what direction my career journey would take me, my mother suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage. She received phenomenal care from all the physicians (surgeons, anesthesiologists, and intensivists) and nurses; because of them, I realized the life-altering impact they provided my family. Those physicians gave my mother back 30 years of life and allowed her to beat the odds by returning to her life’s work. Those critical months observing their dedication inspired me to one day become a physician who can show up at work and help change lives with the important work we do each day. Although some days it is hard to remember how much impact we have as physicians, I try to remind myself of how a small group of physicians changed my life through the care they delivered to my mother. I try daily to offer that to the patients and families I meet and care for.
What do you like doing in your spare time?
I most love spending my free time with my two children (ages 12 and 9) and my husband. As a family, we enjoy going to movies, swimming in the pool, exploring new restaurants, and playing video games together. I have developed a huge interest in Arizona gardening while being at home more during the pandemic. Over the past two years, I have learned to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers in the Arizona climate; I love that it is putting my degree in biology to some good use outside of medicine. I play the piano as a hobby and find that music is a wonderful outlet for creative expression and relaxation.
What is your favorite meal?
Anything that I don’t have to cook myself (haha).
What place would you most like to visit?
Most of my traveling has been limited to destinations in North America. I would love to explore places like Costa Rica, Italy, Iceland, France, and the Polynesian islands. I am hoping for the pandemic to end soon so that traveling freely is not a concern and I can explore more of these exciting destinations.
What do you like best about living in Arizona?
After completing my training on the East Coast, I hoped to return to the West. I moved to Arizona three years ago, and I love living here. The thing that I love most about living in Arizona is the sense of community that is valued by the people here. I love how diverse the people in Arizona are, yet most hold the common values of family and helping their fellow neighbor. I am often impressed by the kindness of strangers that I meet in Arizona, and I am so happy we decided to become part of this community.
What prompted you to become involved in organized medicine?
It is so important for every physician to be part of organized medicine. We are at a critical point in healthcare, and the pandemic only highlighted many of the challenges we have as physicians. I believe strongly that if we want improvements in healthcare and for our patients, physicians need to be involved in that change, but our voices are louder and stronger when we are united in that endeavor. The first step in finding the changes for healthcare that we desire is to band together. It has been a very rewarding experience, and I have had the pleasure of meeting some passionate and dedicated physicians in Arizona.
