Where do you call home?
I was raised in mid-Michigan, and now live in Dexter, Michigan near Ann Arbor.
What’s your specialty or area of expertise?
I’m an obstetrician-gynecologist completing a fellowship in Family Planning. In addition to providing complex contraceptive and abortion care, I specialize in providing gender-affirming care for transgender and gender non-binary people.
What first inspired you to become a doctor?
I decided to pursue medicine after working at a sexual assault center throughout college, and realizing the weight of gender inequities in people’s health and wellbeing. Through this experience, I developed a strong passion for sexual and reproductive health care, and a sense of duty in serving marginalized and stigmatized communities.
What advice do you have for medical students and residents wanting to incorporate advocacy into their day-to-day?
Follow your passion. Engage in advocacy early and often. As students and residents, opportunities to advocate abound. Daily patient care offers endless advocacy opportunities. Moreover, students and residents should keep their eyes open for clinic, unit level, hospital, school, and health system policies and practices that could be improved, and speak up when they have concerns—meaningful positive change is often possible in our own backyard, but is easy to overlook!
What current policy issue especially motivates you to be an advocate?
I am most motivated by policy issues that affect marginalized members of our community, and impact structural inequities, particularly in relation to sexual and reproductive health. The patients I care for each day, and their unique stories and backgrounds, motivate me to advocate broadly for inclusive and equitable access to health care.
How have the events of the past year shaped how you view being a physician advocate?
The events of the past year have added to my sense of urgency and have made me more steadfast in my commitment to advocacy as a physician. This year has also made me more attentive to the pervasiveness of structural racism and efforts to dismantle it, has led me to more directly acknowledge and address my own biases, and has fueled me to work harder to make more space at the advocacy table for historically silenced voices.
What is bringing you joy these days?
Being a new mom and watching my child grow fills my heart and gives me great joy.