Let’s get one factor straight. There’s at all times been girls in medication. So long as people have been round, girls have performed a key position in therapeutic, mending, and caring for the sick. That ladies have taken on medical titles and roles beforehand reserved for males is much less a mirrored image of girls’s capability to ship healthcare than an instance of tenacity not giving into entrenched insurance policies of bias.
At UVA Well being, we rejoice all of the methods by which girls have labored to make medication obtainable, inexpensive, accessible, and equitable. We acknowledge the trailblazers who pushed the boundaries of acceptability in addition to the ladies who, nonetheless as we speak, attempt to ship inclusive care and create areas within the medical system that function with parity and equity.
Yearly, our writing crew will get to speak to girls in medication doing unbelievable issues to enhance the lives and wellbeing of individuals all through Virginia and past.
Here is a couple of of our current favorites.
Serving to Infants Sleep Throughout the Nation
Rachel Moon, MD, is a UVA Well being Youngsters’s pediatrician and a secure sleep skilled. Moon helped write the American Academy of Pediatrics’ up to date suggestions for lowering sudden toddler loss of life syndrome (SIDS). With greater than a decade of learning each the causes and prevention of SIDS, few persons are extra knowledgeable on the significance of secure sleep.
Turning the Genetic Keys
Chelsea Chambers, MS, CGC, helps individuals untangle their genetic histories. She’s a genetic counselor at UVA Well being with a particular focus in neurogenetics.
Her work performs a key position in serving to sufferers discover out one of the simplest ways to forestall or plan for critical inherited sickness. She solutions to sufferers’ frequent questions on neurogenetics, genetic counseling, and testing for neurological circumstances.
Measuring Care to Guarantee Equality
Bizz Glover co-chairs UVA Well being’s LGBTQ & Transgender Advisory Committee. She was additionally a part of a management crew that helped UVA Well being College Medical Heart earn a “Chief” rating of 100 within the 2024 Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). This index charges over 2,200 healthcare services on how nicely their insurance policies and practices assist LGBTQ+ sufferers, guests, and workers. Her dedication to rising inclusion for each affected person ensures that individuals who have usually confronted discrimination and denial of providers get the compassionate care they deserve.
A Uncommon Knowledgeable for a Too-Frequent Drawback
On daily basis within the U.S., 4-5 youngsters die from abuse and neglect. Regardless of the variety of youngsters affected, pediatricians who concentrate on baby abuse are uncommon. In Virginia, there are 3.
Jennifer Andrews, DO, is 1 of these 3. In her extremely specialised position as a baby abuse pediatrician, Andrews search for indicators of abuse in forensic exams, consults with medical doctors who need a second opinion, and helps advocate for methods to forestall baby abuse. Her presence at UVA Well being Youngsters’s means children all through the area have somebody with the best coaching and data to validate, heal, and defend them after they want it most.
Making a Lifetime Influence Throughout Disparities
Wendy Cohn, MEd, PhD, is UVA Well being Most cancers Heart’s affiliate director for neighborhood outreach and engagement. She leads a crew that works to forestall and scale back most cancers within the areas UVA Well being serves. Latest efforts have prolonged to rural areas of Virginia that lack entry to the form of skilled healthcare positioned in cities. Cohn’s management will proceed to influence the lives of untold numbers of individuals for years to come back.