Let’s get one factor straight. There’s all the time been girls in drugs. So long as people have been round, girls have performed a key function 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 ladies’s means 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 drugs obtainable, reasonably priced, accessible, and equitable. We acknowledge the trailblazers who pushed the boundaries of acceptability in addition to the ladies who, nonetheless at the moment, attempt to ship inclusive care and create areas within the medical system that function with parity and equity.
Yearly, our writing staff will get to speak to girls in drugs doing unimaginable issues to enhance the lives and wellbeing of individuals all through Virginia and past.
Here is a number 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 protected sleep knowledgeable. Moon helped write the American Academy of Pediatrics’ up to date suggestions for decreasing sudden toddler demise syndrome (SIDS). With greater than a decade of finding out each the causes and prevention of SIDS, few persons 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 function in serving to sufferers discover out the easiest way to stop or plan for severe inherited sickness. She solutions to sufferers’ widespread 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 staff that helped UVA Well being College Medical Middle earn a “Chief” rating of 100 within the 2024 Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). This index charges over 2,200 healthcare amenities on how nicely their insurance policies and practices help 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 companies get the compassionate care they deserve.
A Uncommon Professional for a Too-Frequent Downside
On daily basis within the U.S., 4-5 youngsters die from abuse and neglect. Regardless of the variety of youngsters affected, pediatricians who focus on baby abuse are uncommon. In Virginia, there are 3.
Jennifer Andrews, DO, is 1 of these 3. In her extremely specialised function as a toddler abuse pediatrician, Andrews search for indicators of abuse in forensic exams, consults with medical doctors who desire a second opinion, and helps advocate for tactics to stop baby abuse. Her presence at UVA Well being Youngsters’s means children all through the area have somebody with the best coaching and information to validate, heal, and shield them after they want it most.
Making a Lifetime Influence Throughout Disparities
Wendy Cohn, MEd, PhD, is UVA Well being Most cancers Middle’s affiliate director for neighborhood outreach and engagement. She leads a staff that works to stop 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 type of knowledgeable healthcare positioned in cities. Cohn’s management will proceed to affect the lives of untold numbers of individuals for years to return.
