Where do you call home?
I was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. I spent the formative years of my 20’s in New York City, and that is where I feel I represent culturally most strongly. I currently live in San Francisco.
What’s your specialty or area of expertise?
I am a family physician. I love taking care of people of all parts of the life spectrum and integrating the bio-psychosocial model into my everyday visits. I am truly a jack of all trades, and enjoy it all—pre-natal care, reproductive health, inpatient adult medicine, complex chronic care, pediatrics, and adolescent medicine.
What first inspired you to become a doctor?
I chose medicine for the same reason most do, I wanted to “help people.” In college I thought about various ways to do this—through education, through social work—but landed on medicine because I discovered I really enjoyed learning about human pathophysiology and sharing health information with people. Medicine also felt for me a good vehicle to fight for social justice, be that for racial minorities, LGTBQ populations, gender minorities, immigrants, people living with HIV; anyone who is marginalized or overlooked by our society in some way.
What advice do you have for medical students and residents wanting to incorporate advocacy into their day-to-day?
Observe the things that bother you in your clinic or hospital, and write them down! Your day-to-day experience is invaluable. Notice things that don’t feel right and that you want to change, and look for patterns. Start brainstorming possible solutions, organize your thoughts, and then ask to meet with leadership to discuss and ask for (demand) change.
What current policy issue especially motivates you to be an advocate?
Reproductive coercion. I personally witness how long acting reversible contraception like IUDs are pushed on women of color disproportionately. I want to be an unbiased voice, giving people clear information about all options so that they can make the best individualized decision for them, and to make this the standard of care for all providers.
Intimate partner violence (IPV). We don’t have enough resources to keep people safe from people who are harming them. Nor do we have the right programs to rehabilitate those who experience trauma and then go on to perpetuate violence in their relationships.
The disproportionate action of CPS (Child Protective Services) separating children from their parents who are people of color, especially Black parents. We need to keep families together at all costs, supporting parents in becoming excellent caregivers through education and resources, and end the racist practices that are currently in place.
How have the events of the past year shaped how you view being a physician advocate?
I want all my patients, but especially my Black patients, to feel safe. I want my clinic to be welcoming and healing for them. I can’t stand the presence of the sheriffs at my hospital, or the racist treatment of Black patients and violence against Black bodies that is perpetuated daily. I want to actively change my workspaces so that my Black patients feel cared for and secure. I believe in abolition of the police force and am working to defund them first in the space that I work.
My patients are especially struggling financially right now. They don’t have jobs that protect them during this time of uncertainty. Everyone has the basic human right to have a safe place to live and love and to eat. The lack of access to these things has caused an intensification of stress, anxiety, and trauma in already hard hit marginalized communities. Mental health is at an all time low, and this will cause physical health to rapidly deteriorate. I am disgusted by how little the government and employers are doing to help people and families during this exaggerated financial strain, and I want to pressure lawmakers to release funds to meaningfully support people right now.
What is bringing you joy these days?
One good thing about Zoom is it has allowed me to meaningfully reconnect with my friends from my past life experiences who don’t live close to me. I look forward to playing Codenames online with my medical school cohort every weekend. I also love my two cuddly dog-like cats who are grateful for the additional time I’m stuck at home right now.