A native New Yorker, Dr. Kersha Pennicott is a board-certified Pediatrician and Breastfeeding Specialist. Dr. Pennicott earned her Bachelor of Science in Biological Anthropology with a minor in Global Health from Emory University, and her medical degree from the Morehouse School of Medicine. She also is an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant.
Dr. Pennicott returned to New York City to complete her training as a pediatrician at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with a global-health track focus. She then completed a fellowship specializing in the care of children requiring hospitalization at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. Dr. Pennicott spent additional time in Florida as a pediatric hospitalist focused on the care of sick children with a range of complex diagnoses before returning to New York to work in a private practice as a general pediatrician.
Over the past decade, Dr. Pennicott completed medical missions to Haiti, Ghana, Uganda, India, and Peru. Her passion for global health and education has fueled her overseas work, which has included teaching medical students and residents, running a pop-up clinic, and implementing quality-improvement projects to benefit local communities. She has presented her work at both local and national conferences.
Dr. Pennicott uses her unique skills to enhance the ways Atria responds to children’s urgent needs, especially at night and on weekends. In addition to seeing children when they are sick, Dr. Pennicott leads the development of the Atria Kids Emergency Response Program to ensure that Atria has the world-class testing, technology, equipment, and referral network needed to meet any need that may arise. She also supports parents who face lactation challenges.
As the daughter of a New York City public school educator and a former elementary school substitute teacher, Dr. Pennicott values the opportunity to teach not only her patients, but their families as well. “Atria gives us a very different and unique opportunity to provide medicine in the ways I have always hoped to,” she says,”by being able to spend even more quality time providing education with patients and their caretakers. I know it will be invaluable.”
Dr. Pennicott knew from a very early age that she wanted to become a pediatrician and she is proud to have fulfilled that dream as the first physician in her family. Since part of her personal mission is to support underserved communities, she is excited to continue engaging in advocacy work by partnering with the Atria Health Collaborative.
When she’s not working, Dr. Pennicott enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Her hobbies include baking, yoga, and traveling the world experiencing new cultures.
Credentials
- Former PediatricianWestMed Medical Group
- Former Pediatric HospitalistSalah Foundation Children’s Hospital / Broward Health Coral Springs
- Former Pediatric Hospitalist FellowNicklaus Children’s Hospital
Affiliations
- FellowAmerican Academy of Pediatrics
- MemberAAP Section on Hospital Medicine
- MemberAAP Section on Global Health
- MemberAcademy of Breastfeeding Medicine
- MemberMorehouse School of Medicine Alumni Association
- MemberEmory Alumni Association
- Formerly affiliated with Nicklaus Children's Hospital
- Formerly affiliated with Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital / Broward Health Coral Springs