The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Race, Society, and Women’s Health Series was launched in 2020 by Drs. Anita Blanchard, Adrianne Dade, and Stacy Lindau after a small summit of the three in Dr. Blanchard’s backyard. We thank the members of the 2023-2024 Race, Society and Women’s Health Lecture Series Planning Committee: Drs. Neha Bhardwaj, Sandra Madueke-Laveaux, Ernst Lengyel, Juraj Letko, Stacy Tessler Lindau, Kristin Pascoe, Jana Richards, and Erin Sullivan.
We felt it was important to bring this series to our department to advance our understanding of the ways race and racism affect the health of people who entrust us with their care. We also see this series as one way to help address and deconstruct our own unconscious or implicit biases, and to understand how bias can impact how we treat one another and how we care for our mostly Black and Brown patients.
Amber Johnson, MD, Martyrdom & Motherhood: The Intersectionality of Heart Disease in Women
Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of Pittsburgh
Terri McMurtry-Chubb, JD, Medical Education, Critical Race Feminism & Me: Creating Culturally Literate Physicians & Resilient Patient Communities through Medical-Legal Partnerships
Professor of Law, UIC School of Law
Recording: https://uchicago.box.com/s/ffyiydhe19faw83lusp04dvcgrjk02v9
Vanessa Northington Gamble, MD, PhD, “Guardian of the Health of Negro Women”: The Medical Career and Activist Life of Dr. Virginia M. Alexander (1899-1949)
University Professor of Medical Humanities, Professor of Health Policy and American Studies, Professor of Medicine, The George Washington University
Recording: https://uchicago.box.com/s/e54h32p7e28gztah5t8t8k96l3w644ll
Wanda Kay Nicholson, MD, MPH, MBA, Achieving Health Equity Through Recommendations for Prevention, Research and Resident Experiences
Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology; Director, General Obstetrics & Gynecology Reproductive Health Fellowship; Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Recording: https://uchicago.box.com/s/e0xlus5gauwrdjsjv7jlmrtyjjmqz88n
Jamila Perritt, MD, MPH, Caring For and Caring About: Examining Power, Privilege, and Reproductive Justice in Reproductive Health Care
President & CEO, Physicians for Reproductive Health
Samantha Butts, MD, MSCE, Defining High Quality Infertility Care and How to Access It: Considering Solutions to Improve Equity in Reproductive Medicine
Chief, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility; Professor and Vice Chair of Education, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health
Recording: https://uchicago.box.com/s/9bo4t4omwfxbsudn0m8fhsg45nylrmbl
Elizabeth Howell, MD, MPP, The Maternal Healthcare Crisis for Women of Color
Chair and Harrison McCrea Dickson, M.D. President’s Distinguished Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Recording: https://uchicago.box.com/s/5o88mtqaa73pxwrlm665i7p98eom1u7e
Deirdre Cooper Owens, PhD, Why History Matters: Understanding the Legacy of Medical Racism
Charles and Linda Wilson Professor in the History of Medicine, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Recording: https://uchicago.box.com/s/pcqp57a6u8ofjys42wfmjim6avv50eq1
Since we started this series, Dr. Blanchard has retired, and Dr. Dade has moved to Rush University Medical Center. We hope this conversation about race, society and women's health will outlast all of us - may it be part of an ongoing commitment and practice that keeps us all pushing forward toward ethical and equitable care of our patients. We also hope that our regular study of these topics fosters deeper understanding among us as colleagues, teachers, scholars and as engaged members of a larger culture and society that needs enlightened, self-reflecting healthcare professionals.