Dr. Alina Sholar is blazing a trail in female-led health care businesses, owning and leading Serenity Medical Centers, Skin Science Soul, and Sage Practice Solutions. At Serenity Medical Centers, Sholar’s leadership style is centered on personal and professional development to give her team the resources to expand their careers. Through these businesses, and in honoring her own professional upbringing in biomedical sciences, medicine, surgery and business, she mentors young women in STEM and medicine and passes on her business acumen to women around the globe to build their own startups.
Dr. Sholar is the first physician in her family, but she knew even in her elementary years what she may become. At age 7, she predicted she would be a doctor- either for people or animals. After receiving a full-tuition merit scholarship from the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation in Orange, she received her BS degree in Biomedical Sciences with Magna Cum Laude honors from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M University in December 1994.
She started medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1995. During her medical education, it became apparent that a surgical specialty was her calling. She did surgical research in an esteemed scientific laboratory at University of Texas with her culminating in publication in a prominent scientific journal, Perfusion. She was there awarded the prestigious Janet M. Glasgow Memorial Award and Achievement Citation for Women in Medicine, along with other meritorious honors and accolades like the Robert Wood Johnson Fellowship Award in medicine. She graduated from University of Texas Medical Branch in 1999 then went on to her surgical residencies.
She completed a full five-year residency, including Chief Resident, in General Surgery at the University of Louisville in 2004, where she was awarded Best Resident Instructor and Mentor by the students of the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Dr. Sholar published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology during her General Surgery residency.
She continued her study of surgery by completing an additional residency in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Tennessee, serving as Chief Resident in 2006. Her plastic surgery training included not only aesthetic surgery, but also dermatology, non-invasive and laser aesthetic treatments, reconstruction related to cranio-facial surgery, microsurgery, hand surgery, burn surgery, and breast surgery. She received multiple awards and publications in research areas such as the efficacy of treatment at Tertiary Care Wound Centers and the advanced reconstructive techniques required after major facial trauma and infections in journals including the prestigious Annals of Plastic Surgery. During this time, she also had the privilege of spending time on mission trips in the Republic of Panama where she repaired cleft lip and palates and assisted in complex reconstructive craniofacial procedures for children. She was certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery in 2008.
She has additionally received training and certification from the World Health Organization in Operational Planning regarding preparedness and response for COVID-19, as well as from Johns Hopkins for Epidemics & Outbreaks.
Serenity Medical Centers has a global service initiative as well as locally in the Austin and San Antonio communities.
Alina Sholar, MD
Surgeon
7959 Fredericksburg Rd
Suite 135
San Antonio, TX 78229
