Estell Williams operates with compassion

Dr. Estell Williams in the operating room with first year medical student Dorender Dankwa
Photo credit: Clare McLean

UW Medicine The Huddle | March 26, 2018 | By Wilson Diehl

UW School of Medicine Chief Resident of General Surgery Estell Williams tries not to make much of a distinction between who she is as a doctor and who she is as a person. “I like to bring a little bit of who I am into what I do every day to allow patients to know that we’re human beings too.”

Dr. Williams, who was raised in East Oakland, California, by her dad and cousin, comes by her compassion and dedication to the community around her naturally. Her dad turned their family house into a group home for adults with mental disabilities. Her cousin became a psychiatric nurse and oversaw the group home. When Williams’s dad grew frustrated with the lack of quality daytime programming for his clients, he bought a car wash and developed it into a job training program. MORE