Dr. Tomica Blocker, MD, PhD, FAAP

Background:
Dr. Blocker is a Wichita native. She first began working with children during graduate school, where she performed outreach and volunteering, specifically encouraging under-represented minorities (girls, children from rural areas, and children of color) to pursue further education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This work, and her love of science led her to pediatrics.

Dr. Blocker’s family members live within the area, allowing her to be the active, and proud aunt to three nieces, and two nephews whose ages span across infancy to adolescence. Her now seven-year-old niece was born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, requiring hospitalization until she was nine months old, numerous surgeries and procedures, and at her discharge home, dependence on tracheostomy, ventilator, gastrojejunostomy tube, and a long list of medications. This experience changed her and her family’s perception of chronic, complex illnesses, and helped provide first-hand experience and empathy for patients with special needs and families that care for them. She values evidence based medicine with the goal of inclusion of each patient, their family members, the medical team at Cottonwood, and specialists to provide patient-centered care.

Philosophy:
“We exist temporarily through what we take, but live forever through what we give.” -Vernon Jordan

Qualifications:
Dr. Blocker graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Langston University. She graduated summa cum laude with her Doctorate of Philosophy in Zoology at Oklahoma State University, where her research focused on social behavior. Her work was published in a number of articles and was highlighted by National Geographic in 2015. After graduate school, Dr. Blocker went on to earn her medical degree from the University of Kansas, at the Wichita campus. She then completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Medical Center, Dallas. While there, she learned that children were at increased risk of many diseases that were previously thought of as “adult illnesses.” She chose to focus her residency project on this issue, and created a new clinic-wide approach to high blood pressure in children. Additionally, Dr. Blocker is certified in the Neonatal Resuscitation Program and the Pediatric Advanced Life Support program, training programs vital to providing life-saving care to newborns and children.

From our patients: