Loralie Ma, MD, 174th President

Loralie D. Ma, M.D. graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Dr. Ma completed her residency with Johns Hopkins in 1995 and joined the Division of Diagnostic Imaging a year later.  In between, Dr. Ma was a Clinical Oncology Fellow for the American Cancer Society. 

It was during Dr. Ma’s away rotation in medical school, at the Johns Hopkins Department of Radiology, when everything “clicked” for her… she instinctively knew that she wanted to be a radiologist! “I found imaging and looking inside the body to diagnose disease fascinating, and I loved the different imaging modalities and how they complemented one-another in diagnosing disease.”  Now, Dr. Ma practices radiology full time and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the Baltimore-metropolitan area.

Practicing medicine did not run in Dr. Ma’s family.  Her father was a Chicago public school teacher, and her grandfather, was a Senator in China and Taiwan.   Her mother was a homemaker, and her maternal grandparents were in the business of oil and farming.   As a student growing up in Lisle, Illinois, Dr. Ma excelled in math and loved chemistry and physics. She enrolled in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981 and obtained her PhD in Biophysics.

Growing up, Dr. Ma heard many colorful stories from her father, Yen-Tien Ma. He lived through the Japanese occupation in Shanghai, the Communist revolution, and post-war political problems in Taiwan.  Hearing his stories taught Dr. Ma the value of becoming part of something larger than yourself.  “If you want your voice to be heard, you have to get involved politically”.  

Dr. Ma is a past Speaker the House for the MedChi House of Delegates. She Provided leadership in developing the Annual Legislative Agenda and is an active participant in the MedChi Legislative Council Meetings. Her active involvement with both MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, and her local component, the Baltimore County Medical Association, is a testament to her commitment and resolve towards organizing and creating positive change. Dr. Ma served as President of the Center for a Healthy Maryland for two years. 

Dr. Ma makes resides in Fulton, Maryland with her husband, Randy, who is now retired after a thirty-eight-year career in healthcare policy.   Her older children are fully launched although her youngest daughter resides at home until she begins her Dermatology residency at the University of Maryland Med School next year.  She will be carrying the torch for medicine, just like her mother.