Vestinia Madonna Bridges is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist currently with the MedStar Orthopaedic Institute, formerly Greater Metropolitan Orthopaedics. She is the only African American woman ever to work for the institute. She was the valedictorian of her high school class. Her alma mater is Duke University, where she played varsity field hockey for four years. She graduated from Howard University College of Medicine, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. As an intern with Howard University Hospital, she was Intern of the Year for the hospital and the Department of General Surgery. After her orthopaedic residency with Howard University Hospital, she did her sports medicine fellowship with Temple University Hospital. She has been in private practice for nearly three decades, serving professional athletes, high school hopefuls, college players, and weekend warriors with grace and good. While she emphasizes her gift as a diagnostician, her greatest skill to patients is her love for people to not simply speak to but also into patients to make them feel valued and respected.