In this episode of Telemedicine Talks, host Dr. Leo Damasco sits down with Dr. Kudzai Dombo, as they explore her transition from traditional practice and hospital medicine to telemedicine, the identity shift away from procedural work, overcoming fear and rejection, creating advocacy roles, building a boutique practice, and finding fulfillment through patient care, education, and social media.
What happens when a board certified OBGYN who delivered thousands of babies realizes she can no longer be that person and has to reinvent herself from scratch through a computer screen?
Host Dr. Leo Damasco welcomes Dr. Kudzai Dombo, a board certified OBGYN and menopause expert with over 20 years of experience in women’s health. Raised between the US and Zimbabwe, she has worked with Doctors Without Borders and NGOs across multiple countries and now serves as Director of Advocacy and Outreach at Alloy Women’s Health while maintaining a boutique private practice.
They discuss her move into telemedicine in 2022 as an adjunct that grew into a full career pivot, the identity shift from delivering babies and surgeries to broader impact, personal challenges with perimenopause and moral injury in hospital settings, and the fear of caring for patients through a screen. Dr. Dombo shares how she proactively created an advocacy and outreach role to bridge patient hesitancy, the realities of rejection in the telehealth space versus brick and mortar, learning new skills, becoming a PC owner, and balancing clinical work with education and social media. She ends with advice to her intern day one self: believe in yourself as a unique individual.
Top 3 Takeaways:
About the Show:
Telemedicine Talks explores the evolving world of digital health, helping physicians navigate new opportunities, regulatory challenges, and career transitions in telemedicine
About the Guest:
Dr. Kudzai Dombo, MD, FACOG, MSCP is a board certified obstetrician gynecologist and menopause expert with more than 20 years dedicated to women’s health. Born in the US and raised partly in Zimbabwe, she brings a cross-cultural perspective shaped by global work with Doctors Without Borders and NGOs in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, El Salvador, South Africa, and Haiti. She is Director of Advocacy and Outreach and a prescribing physician at Alloy Women’s Health, runs a boutique private practice focused on menopause and midlife care, and is a Fellow of ACOG, Diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Menopause Society Certified Practitioner, and member of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (Diversity and Equity Committee).
Connect with Dr. Kudzai Dombo
Instagram: @dr.kudzai
About the Host:
Dr. Leo Damasco – Pediatrician and emergency medicine doctor turned telemedicine advocate, helping physicians transition to digital health.
Connect with Leo Damasco:
[00:00:00] Hey, welcome back everybody to Telemedicine Talks. As always, this is your host, Leo Damasco, and I am super excited to have our guest on today. This is Dr. Kudzai Dombo. She's a board-certified OBGYN and menopause expert with 20 years experience dedicated to women's health.
She's known for her deep commitment to both individual and global health advocacy, and she brings a unique cross-cultural perspective shaped by her upbringing in the US and in Zimbabwe. And her career has spanned continents with work for Doctors Without Borders and NGOs in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, El Salvador, South Africa, and Haiti, where she has advocated for women at every stage in life.
And more recently, she has focused her practice on supporting women in midlife and menopause transition. As a practicing doctor, also doctor of advocacy and outreach, or director of advocacy and outreach at Alloy Women's Health, where she's championed education and support for Black women navigating their transition.
And currently she's a fellow of ACOG, a diplomat of the American Board of [00:01:00] Obstetrics and Gynecology, and, and a Menopause Society certified practitioner. She's also a member of the International Society of Study of Women's Sexual Health, where she's on the Committee for Diversity and Equity. So Kudzai, welcome.
welcome, to the show. You know- Thank you ... we've been wanting to have you, ever since we started the show, actually. Yeah ... yeah, we've met early on in my, telemedicine career and really your telemedicine career. Yeah. And we were talking, I think we were both in kind of similar stage of our brick-and-mortar career.
we've been practicing for, I'm not gonna say how long, I don't wanna age ourselves, but for a decent amount of time, and then we transitioned to telemedicine and, it was different, right? It was different. There's things that... tell me your experience in it. how- Yeah
how was it for you?
So when I was still in brick-and-mortar and I started telemedicine in, actually in 2022, I saw it more as an adjunct. oh, this is a side [00:02:00] gig, to see if I could potentially transition, into something different. I'd been practicing in medicine, in hospital medicine especially, for a large portion of my career, and, really looking for something that would add a level of fulfillment, to, life, as I felt like the medical system, I constantly had to pivot, to stay.
yeah. it was like, okay, do I do this? Do I do that? Yeah. Do I become a hospital? Do I do this? Just to really maintain my love for what I was doing. So- It started off as, telemedicine started off as a, a little, an adjunct, and slowly but surely, it became Full force, let's do this, and make this work as a complete shift to,what I do.
no longer identifying myself as the person who delivers babies or does surgeries, but really, operates in a larger scope, helping more people [00:03:00] in,in, in ways that are, very different.
that, that's an interesting concept, and I know we've talked about that before here, right? it's a whole change shift in identity, right?
100 %. And especially for Your, especially for your, your prior practice, right? You're OBGYN. A lot of that practice is procedural. you, you- ... hands-on obviously. you have to be there- Yeah ... to catch the babies. You can't do that virtually, right? So yeah, how is that shift for you?
how is that identity crisis for you, shifting from, "Hey, this is who I was," and now, "Who I'm gonna be?" question mark. Or, how was that, how was that- Yeah ... process of accepting that?
Yeah, so for a long time,like getting the congratulations of, "Oh my gosh, you delivered my baby" or, the continuity of,"You delivered my first.
I want to come you, to you for my second." Th- so I did that for a long time. Yeah. And then I shifted to being an OBGYN hospitalist, and that was specifically because my dad was diagnosed with cancer overseas, and I wanted a little bit more flexibility. And so I did that [00:04:00] for a while, and that really was fulfilling in the beginning, but then again, every stage of, you know, every year, two years, or three years, things are gonna change and, where more is required of us.
a lot of different things are required of us, and we usually don't have as much of a say in that. it became another thing that just felt,the moral injury, being drained. And also my own perimenopause journey, 'cause I was, in my late 40s and really not able to sleep and, really finding it difficult to...
The moment a nurse called me at 2:00 in the morning and I was trying to catch a nap between pushing- ... called me for Tylenol, right? I couldn't go back to sleep, and like I could see the impact on my health. I could see the impact on my mood. I could see, the fatigue, the memory issues.
It was really having an impact on my life. So when I started telehealth, it started off as something that I absolutely loved because... I was scared at first. I was really scared 'cause I did not believe or know whether I had the skill to be able to take care of [00:05:00] people, through a computer.
I remember that.
I remember that, 'cause, we were part of community where, we were helping usher you along and, you were very hesitant to- Yeah ... um, you know, a lot of questions. and rightly so. But there is that fear of jumping into the deep end- Yeah ... without knowing how deep it really is.
Because then the thing is, it's like , do you enjoy it? Do you not enjoy it? And then do you also feel like All my interactions are gonna be through a screen. I'm gonna be isolated in my home. y- there's so many different things and even though I started and I really went from fear to enjoyment and to seeing the impact that I could make, I realized that I still needed, some level of connection with human, with human beings.
So especially the women that I would take care of, sometimes what I would do as I learned my, as I took the time to learn, menopause hormone therapy, because I did my training from 2001 to 2005 for my residency and in OBGYN. [00:06:00] Yeah. You know that's when the Women's Health Imper- Initiative came out.
So my training was pretty much hands-off with hormones, and look at other alternatives like black cohosh, soy, to help women with their symptoms. So I did not have a lot of training, when it came to taking care of women.
So I would go to all these events, and I would happen to see people who were interested in coming to some of the platforms, that I was work-- that I would see patients on as a part, in a, as a, in a part-time basis.
And I realized, "Wow, this could be a potential gap, and what would it be like to reach out to a telehealth company that I'm working for and ask, 'Hey, is there a way that I could have a paid role, connecting people who may be hesitant to come to a platform and the actual prescribing clinicians on that platform?
Is there a way to bridge the gap of hesitance that patients may have?'" So that created an opening, for me to take on a role doing that. And then I just
was- and if I remember correctly, you [00:07:00] created this opening, right? Yeah. you were very proactive and were like- Yeah ... there is a need and- Yeah
how, if-- what do you think if you did that in, a brick-and-mortar space? If you went to your hospital and was like, "Hey, there's something I've de- I've den- identified." Yeah. w- do you think that would've happened in a, in regular brick-and-mortar versus, kind of this, this startup or this growing company?
Yeah. So I think in brick-and-mortar there's so much more red tape, right? It has to go up to this person, and then it has to be set before a committee, and then it has to be set before, another person, who can actually determine whether or not it's something that's plausible and then, budget and all this.
So I think when I look at, ways to look at being of service, that it's easier to approach maybe a growing company- Yeah ... and look at ways to, again, do an experiment. let's check it out. Let's see if it works. So There are [00:08:00] opportunities that may not necessarily exist in the brick-and-mortar setting.
not to say that it won't, but I do think that there's a little bit more red tape-
Yeah ...
that comes with that .
yeah, andplaying around in the telemedicine space right now too, I agree. I agree. people are trying to innovate. People are trying to, do something new.
So I think the playing board is set for doctors like you, doctors that have great ideas,to push it forward, I think. and that's an amazing story I remember hearing, and oh, yeah, and I think, I remember talking about it. You, it was almost a surprise. It was like, oh my gosh, they bought the idea.
it was just driven by passion, right? Yeah. It was really truly driven by this sense of, um, there's so much misinformation out there. There's so much, hesitance and fear, around this particular topic, and I really want to be able to, reassure women that there are safe options.
There are companies that are trying to do things the right [00:09:00] way, like the evidence-based way. There are clinicians and what would potentially make a difference in alleviating some of those fears and concerns because it took me, as a doctor, time to overcome the fears and concerns that I pretty much understood a lot of women in the same position that I would have been if I wasn't a doctor would have.
And, so how is it going now? what are you up to now? And, since it's been a while since we've talked. ca- catch me up on what's been up with you.
so a lot of different things. I, like you... So but I first wanna say the things that I've had to learn, to get to where- Yeah
I am. So rejection, that's a huge one. Huge. Because I think it's... I have always been able to interview in brick-and-mortar space, and every time I've interviewed, I've always gotten the job, period, full stop, end of story, And then you come into the telehealth space, and you're rejected. you interview-
and you're [00:10:00] rejected. And it's like, y- you're li- you lick your wounds a little bit sometimes because you take it personally. You're like, what? What about me? Wh- why didn't I...?" So being able to be comfortable in a space of, oh, I may I may get rejected. I may, not necessarily, a- get accepted for a position or a role, and being able to just keep going and not take it personally was something really big for me because I really struggled with that in the beginning.
That's,it's funny you say that. gosh, I, recently applied for a position. Same thing happened, right? Same thing happened, and, I went down the rabbit hole. I was like, "Oh, what, what was missing? why is that?" And- you're right. Every t- and same thing.
Every position I went to and, every leadership position I went for it was like, "Yeah, go for it. You- this is yours." And yeah, it's a very common theme here, right? It's, the skills that you've learned in the past don't necessarily equate to the skills that our people are looking for in the telemedicine space necessarily, 100%. And It may not have anything to do [00:11:00] with you. For example, they may decide that, "Oh, like you have a lot of commitments, a lot of different things you're doing." Yeah. "We're looking for someone who may be able to give us way more than you're willing to give." So I do think that it really just depends on the ki- the type of fit, between you and a, a particular company.
So it may have nothing to do with just how, you connect with patients, how many years of practice that you have, how many companies you've worked for. It just may be really like, or it may be just right now we are at capacity and, you just, if you really want the position,you reapply like when they have more openings.
But I had to learn, the hard way that it really has nothing to do with you and, it's really just important to keep moving forward.
it is definitely a tough pill to swallow though, right?
Yeah.
Yeah. it's definitely a ding to the ego that I've built over the years.
[00:12:00] But it's so great when you get to a point that your ego is not, because even closing of one door may lead to an opening of another door.
being able to be like, taking on a, a, a PC owner role-
Yeah ...
that's really scary. I consider that like something that's whoa, you know, and then I think about the risk and, is the, is the risk worth it and... But at the end of the day, what I learn is how do you mitigate risks, right?
Yeah. How do you look at ways that you can reduce those risks? Having an excellent lawyer, looking at, is the team one that's aligned with the mission that I have and, how many- are clinically aligned with what, you're committed to and what you... So I think there are ways to, look at opportunities that are great opportunities, but I think believing that there is abundance and things will line up the way that they're supposed to be is one thing that I'm very grateful that it wasn't, like, grasping at straws for me.
but really just being patient [00:13:00] because there were plenty of times where I thought, "Oh my gosh, am I going to be able to make this work and be full-time out of brick-and-mortar?" I struggled with that at one point, but it's it's just patience and consistency and just continuing to put one foot in front of the other.
Yeah, I know. I remember in the beginning of our journey, that was a topic of frequent conversation, right? It's like, "Hey, how is this gonna happen?" and the picture isn't necessarily that clear from the very beginning. And the picture- Yeah ... e- even now the picture is way different from what it- Yeah
was in the very beginning. And I think you mentioned it earlier on, you're finding your niche, right? And initially it was like, just work. Clinical, you know- Yeah ... see patients and, the whole goal was see as many as we can, and just run and gun it and not necessarily, see patients.
But- Yeah ... over time I've realized I like seeing patients. Yeah. I like the synchronous visits. I like the interaction. And also I kinda like building, so I like the business development side of it as well. Yeah. Which is totally [00:14:00] different from what- Yeah ... my main focus was in the very beginning, right?
Yeah.
how is that in yours? How has your vision of what your telemedicine practice has changed over time. And you've been practicing- Yeah ... now for what? three, three, four years, or four or five years, something like that.
So in the telehealth space, 2022 is when I actually- had my first .
yeah. And then I kind of ramped, like 2024 is when I started, like I, became a part of a community that, where I met you initially, and that's when I pivoted to to a role plus patient base.
Yeah.
Being able to look at how I can open up more doors doing different things, outside of brick-and-mortar.
So yeah, so t- 2024 is really when I put it all on the line.
Yeah. And how was that? what's, what does that look like then than now?
oh my gosh, so learning,Google Drive- ... learning how to create a Zoom, meeting, learning how to use Canva for [00:15:00] presentations.
Yeah.
Learning how to, oh my gosh, 'cause I, there were different speaking engagements that I did.
I was always in scrubs before then. Learning how to actually dress up, Oh my gosh. to be in front of a group of, other women who- Yeah ... s- learning, oh my gosh, okay, what am I gonna do? my shoes, w- what- ... what am I gonna wear? these were all things that I never had to really think about because- Yeah
I wo- I wore scrubs to work every day.
And,being out there, doing things, within, the space of, education and panels and, you know, it took, wow, like- Having to balance all these different things that I'd never done, and my brain wanted to explode. Like being on podcasts, for example, it was just like, "Oh my gosh," I have to have noise canceling earphones.
And then I'm seeing patients as well- Yeah ... in the same space.
Yeah.
So it took juggling flights, juggling, what, a lot-
Yeah ...
needless to say. And, yeah, so it, that's why for me it took me a, [00:16:00] a bit of time to really get licensed, 51 licenses.
Yeah. Yeah.
Because it felt the s- the learning curve, when it came to, doing all these different things was really high.
Yeah. Yeah. a- and it's definitely, drinking from a fire hose kind of situation, right? Especially in the very beginning, right? Yeah. Nobody teaches us these things.
No.
and like those skills like you're talking about, presentation skills, speaking skills. yeah, we do morning reports.
Yeah, we sat in front of our residency programs, but really this is a different skill set. This is a different audience set we're speaking to, right? We're not necessarily speaking to doctors per se, but- ... but we're not also speaking to the lay person either, And yeah, it's a different There's a combination of it,
right?
Yeah. You're talking to, you may be doing speaking engagements in front of patients, but you're also required to account for what you are doing to company leadership. Yeah. So So it's really, yeah, it's learning a lot of new skills.
[00:17:00] Yeah. and what are you up to now? what's, what are you doing?
Yeah.
So I am so seeing patients- Yeah ... right through, different platforms. I'm also, I have a boutique private practice, that I see patients through for myself. there are some patients who just wanna be able to do a one-on-one consultation and follow up with me, and so I have my own boutique practice.
Yeah.
And then I also, a PC owner. I'm also,doing speaking engagements. so if there are, opportunities through some different brands to go and speak to a group of women, representing them, I'm able to... we work out what that's gonna look like, and I also do that.
so there's just a, it's a hodgepodge of different things, but I honestly can say that my heart is full because, as you can see from my resume, I've worked in different parts of the world- Yeah ... and it's really the goal has been to really empower women everywhere, [00:18:00] and the fact that I get to do this,in this capacity,is something that, really ful- is fulfilling for me.
And at the end of the day, I think as all doctors, we wanna do what fulfills us-
Yeah ...
instead of just feeling like we are a cog in the wheel, for a system. it's re- for me it's... I went into medicine to, to really have impact and that's really what I... I'm happiest and most joyful when I can do that.
It's amazing. Amazing. It's like your reach now is literally- It- ... borderless, right? Yeah. You can reach out. your sphere of influence is literally everywhere, which is-
Yeah ...
amazing.
and that's where I'm like, the fact that I'm able to help women in ways that I never thought I would before is just it just makes me giddy.
I'm so happy for you. No, this is awesome to hear that, you've found kind of your role. and you made it. You made it, Yeah, and I wouldn't even- Well- ... say you found it. You made your role and you created the space for yourself.
Can I share one more thing that's something- Yeah,
absolutely
I forgot to add [00:19:00] because it's hilarious, and, really ushered in by some of the colleagues that I worked with. but they were like, "You need to get on Instagram. You need to start talking-" "... be- the way that you speak really resonates with patients." Yeah. I think some of the doctors that I worked with, one of the doctors in particular was like, Kudzai, you really need to."
And I'm not one of those people who ever really had very much activity on social media. Yeah. So it was really intimidating, and then I, But I would post here and there some of the different things I did, and then I was like, the consistency and being able to keep up with it was really difficult.
So I decided to hire a team just to help with that and see if it would work, right? Yeah. And so now that's one thing that I do. And, and again, that's another skill set, because- Being able to,speak in a way that, again, people resonates with people is something that I, being very concise and, and [00:20:00] clear-
Yeah
is something that, like, when you learn how to do that efficiently and effectively, it can really help a lot of people and create engagement.
And so that's another thing that I, I also do, is really try to educate through social media. So I have a,just a, a, a team that really has been pushing me outside of my comfort to do that, and it really is uncomfortable. But they are very much, they know exactly how to just, help me and make it seamless.
It's- that's a great point. Really, nowadays, right? And I'm speaking like the old man, on the porch. Nowadays, that's the only way you can do it. That is the main platform to get your voice out, to get information out. And yeah.
Yeah.
old fogies like, "We have to get good at it if we want to get our voices heard."
And you're right, it's so hard doing 30, 30 seconds to a minute, right? To get all the ideas that you want out, so [00:21:00] act natural. And to do that at real time into a, to nothing, right? 'Cause your audience is nothing at the time, right? Yeah. you're staring into a camera. That's ama- What is your social handle, by the way?
So everybody knows. It's Kudzai
and then D-R for doctor and then dot, and then my name, Kudzai. K-U-D-Z-A-I. So it's, yeah,it's been an interesting journey,with that. And, but it, they've made it fun.
It's amazing. No, I'm glad. I, oof, it is very difficult. It is very difficult to get used to it.
Yeah. I remember when I started, I was like, "I look like a robot. I suck at this." And it's very cringey in the beginning, right? And you're like, "Ugh." I agree.
Agree. "
Man, I don't like listening or hearing myself."
And that's how I am even up until today. Yeah. So when I have to, go through my content calendar and approve-
I literally put, hold up my phone to my ear and I just listen. Am I saying anything inaccurate? Does it sound good? so that's what I do. But it truly is, like I would, I was so perféct- the [00:22:00] perfectionist part of me would overtake. Yes. I would never post anything. Yeah. Right?
Because I was like, "My gosh, that doesn't look perfect. that looks off. That doesn't sound right." And so I would never post, and now it's, taken out of my hands.
Yeah. No,how long did your first post take you to, to record?
Gosh. I think I probably took at least 25 takes.
Exactly.
Before I was willing to post it.
Yeah. And I'd still- And it was like, "Oh, that didn't sound good." I'd still reach. Or I stuttered here or I, I don't like my face here. now it's just, you can wrap it out in, a minute.
You know what? Yeah. Yeah. yeah, it's like, boom.
And it's like you crumple up the piece of paper and you throw it away. 'Cause I, I have a script, right? And so it's like- Done. And I don't even look o- like I don't even in real time take a look at it. It's like- That's amazing ... I move on to the next. Yeah. Move on to
the next. Yeah.
So it just takes practice, practice over and over again.
Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. dude, this is awesome to catch up. It's awesome to see your face. Yeah. Wonderful. And get to know what you're going [00:23:00] through. we are at time now. One thing we always ask guests is, hey, think back to intern day one, little baby doctor.
First time you're wearing the coat, right? Yes. What advice would you give your intern day one? anything at all. Doesn't even have to be medicine. What would adv- what would you tell Dr. Kudzai, intern day one, something that, you know, from all your experiences that you know now?
I would just say believe in yourself.
Believe in yourself. because I think for me it was really ha- even, branching into telemedicine-
Yeah ...
to believe that in who I am as a person, as a unique individual. It's not like I have to be like that person or that person, 'cause I think so many times it's so easy to compare ourselves just to see where do, where am I landing, where am I landing.
But believing that you as a unique individual person, have, can have such [00:24:00] impact on, so many things, and all you need to be is yourself. You don't have to be like anybody else, and lean into that.
that's tough. That's tough, especially at that stage. It is. When you're being told you're not good enough, you need to study more, where...
Yeah. You're broken down at that stage.
I feel I think if I had just been able to okay, this is how I'm feeling, and this is maybe truth, I feel like I would have been able to, I don't know, yes, but just realizing that you may think and feel like you're not good enough and, but I don't think that's the tr- it's not the truth.
Yeah.
It's not
the truth. It never is. It never is. And staying positive is huge.
Yes.
Especially for yourself, right?
Yep. 100%.
That's amazing. Well- Yeah ... this has been a pleasure. Thank you so much for hanging out. if you want to know more about Dr. Kudzai, check out her handle. It's amazing, by the way.
Go follow her. And, yeah, [00:25:00] as always, drop us a line, info@telemedicinetalks.com. Thank you, everybody, for joining. Stay connected, stay informed, and keep moving virtual care forward. Thank y'all and catch y'all next time.