Rhea W. Boyd is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
pediatrician
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
and child and community health advocate. Boyd is a popular science communicator, making use of
social media to amplify a diverse range of voices in an effort to improve the heath of communities of colour.
Early life and education
Boyd grew up in
Los Angeles and
Akron, Ohio.
As a child, Boyd attended a predominantly-white Catholic school.
She wanted to be a physician.
In 2006, Boyd received a bachelor's degree in a customized program of
Africana studies and health from the
University of Notre Dame.
While in college she was a journalist for the student newspaper, where she wrote about race in America.
In 2010, Boyd received a medical degree is from
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine is a graduate medical school of Vanderbilt University located in Nashville, Tennessee. Located in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center on the southeastern side of the Vanderbilt University campus, the S ...
.
She moved to
California, completing a residency in pediatrics at the
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)'s
UCSF Medical Center in 2013.
While a medical resident at
University of California, San Francisco Boyd launched a blog about being a paediatrician. Boyd was part of the ''Paediatric Leadership for the Underserved'' residency, which trains paediatricians to provide healthcare for children from marginalised backgrounds. In 2017, Boyd completed a
Master of Public Health
The Master of Public Health or Master of Philosophy in Public Health (M.P.H.), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), International Masters for Healt ...
at the
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She held a Commonwealth Fund Mongan Minority Health Policy Fellowship.
Career
Boyd works as a clinical physician. Since she has partnered with San Diego 211 as
chief medical officer
Chief medical officer (CMO) is the title used in many countries for the senior government official designated head of medical services, sometimes at the national level. The post is held by a physician who serves to advise and lead a team of medical ...
. Boyd has taught academic programs on
structural inequality and health.
She specialises in child and community health. She has worked with physicians, professional bodies, local organizers and tech founders in the
San Francisco Bay Area to increase access to health services.
Following the success of her early blogging experience, Boyd launched an independent platform (Rhea.MD), where she discussed the intersection of race, gender and health. Boyd is particularly concerned about the impact of
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
on the health and wellbeing of Black boys and men.
Throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic, Boyd has spoken about the health disparities experienced by Black Americans.
[ ] In response to the
murder of George Floyd, Boyd became more involved with political activism and the fight for social justice.
Boyd was one of many physicians who supported the
George Floyd protests throughout the pandemic, saying “protest is a profound public health intervention”. In an interview with ''
Time magazine'', Boyd said, “If people were to understand that racism, and all of the social and political and economic inequalities that racism creates, ultimately harms people's health. they would see that protest is a profound public health intervention, because it allows us to finally address and end forms of inequality,”.
On June 17, 2020, Boyd gave expert testimony to the
U.S. Congress' House of Representatives'
House Committee on Energy and Commerce on “Health Care Inequality: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 and the Health Care System”.
Boyd worked with
Monica McLemore
Monica Rose McLemore (born 1969) is an American nurse who is an associate professor of Family Health Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco. Her work considers reproductive justice and medical care for marginalised communities, w ...
to devise new standards on publishing racial health inequities.
Unfortunately, the academic publishing process has allowed scholarship that confuses and often attempts to minimise the role of racism in determining health outcomes. Boyd and McLemore believe that “the solution to racial health inequities is to address racism and its attendant harms and erect a new health care infrastructure that no longer profits from the persistence of inequitable disease”.Their suggestions included; (1) Denouncing Biological Race And The Insidious Harms Of Patient Blame, to stop (2) Obfuscating The Role Of Racism In Determining Health And Health Care and the implementation of more (3) Rigorous Standards For Publishing On Racial Health Inequities.
Membership
* 2016–present:
American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C.
Background
The Academy was founded ...
, California Chapter 1, Board Member
* 2016–present:
American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C.
Background
The Academy was founded ...
, Executive Committee on Communications and Media, Executive Committee Member
* California Children's Trust, Director of Equity and Justice
Selected works and publications
Selected works
*
*
*
*
*
*
Selected publications
*
*
References
External links
Rhea Boydat
Palo Alto Medical Foundation
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Rhea
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
University of Notre Dame alumni
UCSF School of Medicine faculty
Stanford University School of Medicine faculty
21st-century African-American physicians
21st-century American physicians
People from Akron, Ohio
American pediatricians
American women pediatricians
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine alumni
American women academics