Let’s get one factor straight. There’s at all times been ladies in drugs. So long as people have been round, ladies have performed a key position in therapeutic, mending, and caring for the sick. That girls 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 have a good time all of the methods during which ladies have labored to make drugs accessible, inexpensive, accessible, and equitable. We acknowledge the trailblazers who pushed the boundaries of acceptability in addition to the ladies who, nonetheless as we speak, try to ship inclusive care and create areas within the medical system that function with parity and equity.
Yearly, our writing workforce will get to speak to ladies in drugs doing unimaginable issues to enhance the lives and wellbeing of individuals all through Virginia and past.
This is just a few of our current favorites.
Serving to Infants Sleep Throughout the Nation
Rachel Moon, MD, is a UVA Well being Kids’s pediatrician and a protected sleep knowledgeable. Moon helped write the American Academy of Pediatrics’ up to date suggestions for lowering sudden toddler demise syndrome (SIDS). With greater than a decade of finding out each the causes and prevention of SIDS, few individuals are extra knowledgeable on the significance of protected sleep.
Turning the Genetic Keys
Chelsea Chambers, MS, CGC, helps folks 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 best ways to forestall or plan for severe 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 workforce 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 amenities on how properly their insurance policies and practices help LGBTQ+ sufferers, guests, and staff. Her dedication to growing inclusion for each affected person ensures that individuals who have typically confronted discrimination and denial of providers get the compassionate care they deserve.
A Uncommon Professional for a Too-Frequent Downside
Every single day within the U.S., 4-5 kids die from abuse and neglect. Regardless of the variety of kids 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 toddler abuse pediatrician, Andrews search for indicators of abuse in forensic exams, consults with docs who desire a second opinion, and helps advocate for tactics to forestall baby abuse. Her presence at UVA Well being Kids’s means children all through the area have somebody with the appropriate coaching and data to validate, heal, and defend them once 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 workforce that works to forestall and scale back most cancers within the areas UVA Well being serves. Current efforts have prolonged to rural areas of Virginia that lack entry to the type of knowledgeable healthcare positioned in cities. Cohn’s management will proceed to affect the lives of untold numbers of individuals for years to come back.