Course Overview

Dr. Doreen Wiggins

MD, MHL, FACOG, FACS

Dr. Doreen L Wiggins is an Associate Professor of Surgery Clinician Educator at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University. Her areas of expertise are breast cancer surgery and cancer survivorship. She has been practicing yoga for more than 30 years, has completed yoga teacher training, has taught at international yoga retreats with Rajashree Choudhury since 2011, and is a Yoga Medicine contributor and teacher. Doreen is currently in the Andrew Weil Fellowship in Arizona for Integrative Medicine.

Dr. Wiggins received her B.A. in Chemistry and Psychology in 1984 from the University of Rhode Island and her medical degree in 1988 from Brown University. In 1999, she founded the Center Obstetrics & Gynecology. She pursued further medical training in 2003 at Women and Infants Hospital and completed an SSO Breast Disease Fellowship, and in 2009 graduated from the Intensive Course in Cancer Risk Assessment at the City of Hope in Los Angeles, California. She is a 2015 graduate of Brown University’s Executive Masters in Healthcare Leadership program.

In 2000 she completed training as a children's grief counselor at the Dougy Center in Oregon. She serves as Advisory Board member of Friends Way (Rhode Island's only children's grief center) and in the past has been the Vice President of the Board and volunteered as a facilitator. 

She was chosen in 2003 to be one of 26 cyclists in the Tour of Hope, a transcontinental bicycling relay with Lance Armstrong to promote cancer research and clinical trials. Dr. Wiggins has continued her relationship with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, serving as a delegate to meet with members of Congress to support cancer research, and has received grants through LAF for local cancer survivorship outreach programs. 

She has been honored to teach at Kripalu with Rajshree Choudhary for her Pregnancy Yoga Series since 2011.
She has published book chapters and journal articles, has received numerous awards for medical teaching at Brown University, and awards for philanthropy. Her areas of expertise are breast cancer surgery, gynecologic surgery, female cancer genetics, female sexuality, and cancer survivorship.

Debra Landwehr Engle

Debra is an author, writing and spiritual mentor, and managing director of the international Story Summit Writer’s School. Her books include The Only Little Prayer You Need: The Shortest Route to a Life of Joy, Abundance and Peace of Mind. It features a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and an endorsement by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. An international bestseller, it has been translated into multiple languages.

Let Your Spirit Guides Speak was honored with a silver Nautilus Award, which recognizes “Better books for a better world.” Be the Light That You Are: 10 Principles for Making Peace in a Chaotic World also is a Nautilus Silver Award winner. Her first novel, Twenty, addresses themes of loss and redemption in midlife and became a Kindle #1 bestseller on Amazon.

Debra co-founded Tending Your Inner Garden, a women’s program of spirituality and personal growth, in 2003 and developed and presented it internationally through 2015. She is a long-time teacher of A Course in Miracles and has presented workshops worldwide on both writing and spirituality, including at the Omega Institute, Ferry Beach Retreat Center, and the Kauai Writers Conference.

Debra holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. As a writing mentor and coach, she works internationally with budding authors one-on-one, in small groups, and through retreats and online courses. And as managing director of the Story Summit Writer’s School, she helps shape writing courses and engages faculty members who are at the pinnacle of publishing and entertainment.