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Yolonda Lorig Colson

Yolonda Lorig Colson, MD, PhD

Thoracic Surgery

Highlights

Age Groups Seen

  • Adults
  • Geriatrics

Languages

  • English

Gender

Female

About Yolonda Lorig Colson

Dr. Colson is the Chief for the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. In addition to her cardiothoracic surgical training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, her academic training includes a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an M.D. from Mayo Medical School, and a Ph.D. and general surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the recipient of the George H.A. Clowes, Jr. Research Career Development Award from the American College of Surgeons, the Edward M. Kennedy Award for Health Care Innovation from CIMIT, an Officer and Exam Chair for the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and was Co-chair of the 2015 American Association for Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting. She has a specific clinical interest in increasing and improving the identification and treatment of lung cancer in the operating room for lung cancer treatment, and in understanding the unique differences of lung cancer in women.

She is co-inventor on three awarded patents and has received over twenty foundation grants and seven R29/R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute. Dr. Colson's research focuses on the development of unique mechanisms of polymer and nanoparticle drug delivery aimed at preventing cancer recurrence, and the investigation of novel methods to identify hidden tumor that has spread to nearby lymph nodes. She has over 135 peer-reviewed publications highlighting her previous work in transplantation and her most recent investigations in sentinel lymph nodes in lung cancer and polymer-mediated drug delivery.

Locations

  1. Brigham and Women's Thoracic Surgery Clinic
  2. Massachusetts General Thoracic Surgery Clinic

Expertise

Education

  • Residency: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cardiothoracic Residency, 2001
  • Residency: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, General Surgery, 1998
  • Medical Education: Mayo Medical School, Combined MD/PhD, 1989

Board Certifications

  • Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery: American Board of Thoracic Surgery, 2002
  • Surgery (General Surgery): American Board of Surgery, 1999

Insurance

This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown. Please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Search plans
  • Aetna
  • AmeriHealth Caritas New Hampshire
  • Beech Street
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield - Federal
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield - Indemnity
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield ME
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield NH
  • Cigna
  • Commonwealth Care Alliance
  • Community Health Options
  • CorVel Workers Comp
  • Coventry
  • Fallon Health
  • Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
  • Humana
  • Maine Community Health Options
  • Martin's Point
  • Mass General Brigham Health Plan
  • MassHealth
  • Medicaid CT
  • Medicaid ME
  • Medicaid NH
  • Medicaid RI
  • Medicaid VT
  • Medicare
  • Medicare ACO
  • Multiplan
  • Multiplan/PHCS
  • NH Healthy Families
  • Prime Health Services
  • Railroad Medicare
  • Senior Whole Health
  • TriCare
  • Tufts Health Plan
  • Tufts Medicare Preferred
  • United Health Care
  • WellCare
  • Wellpoint
  • WellSense
  • WellSense NH

Ratings & Reviews

5 out of 5

113 ratings, 68 reviews

The Patient Satisfaction Rating is an average of all responses to the care provider related questions shown below from our survey. Patients that are treated in outpatient or hospital environments may receive different surveys, and the volume of responses will vary by question.

How likely would you be to recommend this provider to your family and friends?
Search reviews
  • Reviewed on 1/29/2026

    Dr. Colson is an extraordinary clinician and caring human being. Simply the best!!

  • Reviewed on 1/27/2026

    I've had tele-visits with Dr. Colson previously and she is always not only courteous but keenly interested in insuring I fully understand what she's describing and the potential consequences of it. She's top notch! [redacted]

  • Reviewed on 1/23/2026

    My appointment with Yolanda Colson was amazing. I have been in medical care for a long time, having a rather complicated personal chart, and I appreciated her depth of knowledge in my own case, and then also in her field. She was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful, and I would highly recommend her to any patient as a provider. I appreciate the entire team there, and I really, really hope to be coming back for a long time with this care team.

  • Reviewed on 1/15/2026

    Dr Colson was excellent

  • Reviewed on 1/12/2026

    I appreciate the virtual call as I do not drive into Boston anymore. Dr Colson went over my problem and told me the tests she needed to do. She also showed me the CT scan a n d where the problems are.

  • Reviewed on 12/24/2025

    Dr. Yolonda Colson is an outstanding individual and physician. I have so much faith and confidence in her. She has been very diligent in providing me care over the past years. I am especially pleased that I can get any questions answered through the portal. They are very prompt in responding to my concerns. I do not know what i would do without her,

  • Reviewed on 12/22/2025

    Caring, wonderful, knowledgeable Doctor

  • Reviewed on 12/3/2025

    This doctor was thorough, personable, had taken the time to read my records so came prepared, explained, in detail, the problem I was facing and gave thoughtful suggestions as to the best solutions.

  • Reviewed on 11/27/2025

    I really appreciated my appointment with Dr. Colson. I appreciated her area of expertise, her knowledge, her competency, her ability to hear what my concerns were and respond, and very grateful that I had the opportunity to have Dr. Colson as my doctor.

  • Reviewed on 11/27/2025

    She's fantastic and I really appreciate the time she took. It would be great if video appointments, there would be a way to say that your physician's running late because sometimes with her and with other appointments, people are just running a little bit behind. It'd be nice to know how long or what have you. Otherwise, it was so perfect a visit. Thank you.

  • Reviewed on 11/27/2025

    Dr. Colson has been my doctor for five or six years. Kind, considerate, very conversational, makes me feel safe and secure. I can't imagine that I could have put myself in the hands of a better doctor.

  • Reviewed on 11/24/2025

    Dr. Colson is very caring.

  • Reviewed on 11/19/2025

    I had excellent care from check in to discharge. I couldn't have asked for better care.

  • Reviewed on 11/17/2025

    Yolanda Colson is so warm and kind and personal. In the OR she held my hand as I was "going under", and that was incredibly comforting. I will always remember that loving gesture. It was amazing.

  • Reviewed on 11/17/2025

    Dr. Colson is a superb communicator, kind, thoughtful, patient, supportive and knowledgeable.

  • Reviewed on 11/13/2025

    My experience wh Dr Yoloda Colson was perfect very caring and explained everything so I could understand very well educated and great bedside manner my visit was great my sister also had her and loved her

  • Reviewed on 11/12/2025

    Was easy to understand

  • Reviewed on 11/6/2025

    Excellent care and service

  • Reviewed on 11/7/2025

    I really appreciated that I could do it on a Zoom and not drive up to Boston from where I am. It would have been hard and I think we got everything done and it was just as well to do it on Zoom.

  • Reviewed on 11/7/2025

    Dr. Colson has been following me for about two years now for my lung lesions. She's always very respectful, very friendly, very warm, very open, answers all of my questions and is very thorough in her explanation. I also feel like whenever I ask her a question, she always answers it in the best way possible with as much detail as possible and I never feel rushed in any visit with her.

  • Reviewed on 11/6/2025

    Dr. Colson is very, very good at listening to the issues at hand. She is very knowledgeable on all the different procedures to treat the particular illness and she gives you her undivided attention when you meet with her. She really makes you feel very comfortable in all situations.

  • Reviewed on 11/6/2025

    My experience was satisfactory.

  • Reviewed on 10/31/2025

    Dr. Colson has been my provider since 2018. She saved my life and did it in a non-very invasive way. And I recovered rapidly and I trust her with my life to this very day and forward. Thank you.

  • Reviewed on 10/21/2025

    Extremely satisfied with Dr. Colson who provided a thorough review of the status of my lung nodules from scans provided. [redacted]

  • Reviewed on 10/19/2025

    She is a trusted advisor, extremely knowledgeable about her subject and interested in all aspects of my wellbeing.

  • Reviewed on 10/16/2025

    Explained options and next steps in an easy to understand manner. Extremely thorough and answered all questions.

  • Reviewed on 10/14/2025

    Felt well cared for, listened to, and comfortable. Dr Colson is knowledgeable, warm and obviously competent.

  • Reviewed on 10/16/2025

    Yolonda is great. She's very kind, personal, and very professional. Love her.

  • Reviewed on 10/15/2025

    I am extremely grateful for Dr.Colson and her entire staff for her care and treatment

  • Reviewed on 10/15/2025

    I liked Dr Colson very much. She apparently took time to review my records before we spoke and knew my history. She explained thing to me and asked how I felt with the plan going forward. Thank you

  • Reviewed on 10/13/2025

    Dr. Colson is a very knowledgeable and thorough Doctor.

  • Reviewed on 10/9/2025

    She is GREAT ?

  • Reviewed on 10/7/2025

    Dr. Colson is absolutely wonderful! I love her! She is warm and friendly and makes every effort to explain my health situations. I recommend her highly.

  • Reviewed on 10/6/2025

    Dr. Yolanda Colson is extremely knowledgeable and reviews my scans so that I am able to ask questions and get her honest opinions. I've been very fortunate in having her as my thoracic surgeon.

  • Reviewed on 9/26/2025

    Well, the doctor was very informative and very knowledgeable, and I was very confident about what she had to say, and I'm looking forward to get treated by the doctor.

  • Reviewed on 9/24/2025

    Dr [redacted] and Dr Colson are awesome

  • Reviewed on 9/11/2025

    Dr. Colson is always knowledgeable, explains everything to me in great detail, knows what the next steps are, and is very diligent in every aspect of her work.

  • Reviewed on 9/8/2025

    Dr. Colson always makes me feel like I am very important and makes me feel less anxious about my health situation. She speaks to me with respect and in a way that I can understand the medical terminology. I feel very confident that I am getting the best care possible.

  • Reviewed on 9/6/2025

    She was an excellent listener, provided excellent feedback in a way that was easily understood by a layman such as myself. I felt fully informed by the end of our meeting.

  • Reviewed on 8/27/2025

    Dr. Colson is the best. She is a very busy doctor with huge responsibilities. And, she takes the time to carefully explain CT results and other items. She is warm, helpful, and encouraging.

  • Reviewed on 8/19/2025

    She was awesome. Covered everything in detail.

  • Reviewed on 7/31/2025

    Yes, she listens to you and she's a very good doctor and she's understanding. Thank you.

  • Reviewed on 7/21/2025

    A very busy physician who made time to talk with me.

  • Reviewed on 7/21/2025

    Dr. Colson is excellent! She is caring and is an excellent surgeon for my lung cancer

  • Reviewed on 7/21/2025

    Dr. Colson is a wonderful doctor, very respectful and informative

  • Reviewed on 7/9/2025

    Dr. Colson is a brilliant, kind, thorough surgeon. Love her to pieced

  • Reviewed on 7/9/2025

    Takes the time to explains all thoroughly and easy to talk to. Very nice to talk to.

  • Reviewed on 7/9/2025

    Second to none

  • Reviewed on 7/7/2025

    Dr Colson is genuinely invested in her patients. Her medical knowledge and expertise are very valuable to anyone who faces the diagnosis that I did.

  • Reviewed on 6/27/2025

    Dr. Colson is a tremendously talented doctor and surgeon as well as a human being. She saved my life and she continues to monitor my health and a very caring professional and extremely talented from a medical perspective way. I really appreciate her. She's a model for other doctors there.

  • Reviewed on 6/26/2025

    She is amazing. So smart and great bed side manners. I feel so lucky to have her as my Dr !

  • Reviewed on 6/25/2025

    Excellent virtual visit.

  • Reviewed on 6/24/2025

    Dr. Colson was very thorough and went through all of the results as well as a plan for the future

  • Reviewed on 6/19/2025

    Excellent

  • Reviewed on 6/19/2025

    Dr. Colson seemed to be a very good surgeon she could only use info provided to her and understood my sense of urgency. Thank you

  • Reviewed on 6/18/2025

    She was very kind

  • Reviewed on 6/18/2025

    I actually got a call today from my dr and we discussed all my health issues . He was very helpful and explained everything in terms I could understand! Ty

  • Reviewed on 6/7/2025

    She is thorough and very easy to talk to

  • Reviewed on 5/26/2025

    Dr. Colson is perhaps one of the best healthcare providers I've ever had in my whole life. Thank you.

  • Reviewed on 5/25/2025

    I really like Dr colson

  • Reviewed on 5/25/2025

    Dr colson is always excellent

  • Reviewed on 5/3/2025

    Very pleasant

  • Reviewed on 4/21/2025

    Dr. Yolonda Colson was very, very helpful. She explained things that I could easily understand, which is challenging in itself. Very, very knowledgeable in my situation and just very, very happy to have her as my doctor.

  • Reviewed on 4/14/2025

    She was great. Nerve wracking experience. My advice is "don't do pre screening!!"

  • Reviewed on 4/10/2025

    Very thorough and professional

  • Reviewed on 4/9/2025

    Obviously an expert in her field. One of the best.

  • Reviewed on 4/7/2025

    Dr. Colson is a wonderful doctor. I feel very privileged to be one of her patients.

  • Reviewed on 3/29/2025

    Dr Colson is the best EVER