S1Ep1: Dr. Monica Hahn: Medicine, Social Justice, and Activism

Woke WOC Docs

Dr. Monica Hahn first and foremost describes herself as radical, yet this description is no surprise considering her work as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF in the Department of Family & Community Medicine, ethnic studies scholar activist, and salsa and capoeira extraordinaire. Together, we explore her journey into and through medicine alongside remarking on topics such as her own activism work before medical school, issues of race-based medicine, Afro-Cuban salsa dancing, why pre-medical education is problematic, how students are critical mentors to professors/teachers, why doctors who aren’t mothers can only give so much breastfeeding advice, and her own memorable clinical experiences. Please note: At 45:40, Dr. Hahn would like listeners to know that the appropriate language referring to her patient she was caring for is as a transgender man, not as a transgender male. Links to some acronyms we mention in the podcast: UCSF PRIME-US (Program in Medical Education for the Urban Underserved) Program: https://meded.ucsf.edu/prime-us-program UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program (JMP):http://sph.berkeley.edu/jmp/home The Freedom School for Intersectional Medicine and Health Justice: https://www.intersectionalmedicine.org Bio: Dr. Monica Hahn is an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF in the Department of Family & Community Medicine. As a family physician, HIV specialist, and Clinical Director of the Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center (PAETC), Monica’s work centers around promoting health and wellness for HIV-affected families with an emphasis on integrating HIV prevention and treatment, as well as sexual and reproductive wellness, into primary care. Her clinical experience includes co-directing the Family HIV Clinic, a family-oriented HIV primary care clinic at San Francisco General Hospital’s Family Health Center, and providing perinatal HIV care to people living with or affected by HIV as the lead clinician at HIVE Clinic, also based at San Francisco General Hospital. Monica co-directs an HIV specialty concentration training program for the UCSF Family & Community Medicine Residency Program. She serves as a research and career mentor to UCSF medical students as the Director of Inquiry and Evaluation for the PRIME Urban-Underserved program. Monica’s inspiration for becoming a physician-advocate is rooted in her personal experiences and work experiences in public health and social justice activism. Her work has focused on addressing health inequities in sexual and reproductive health for communities of color, with the goals of developing strategies for dismantling systemic oppression and structural violence to improve health and wellness for all. She completed her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley with a major in Molecular & Cell Biology and a minor in Ethnic Studies. She earned her MPH at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, and earned her MD/MS at UCSF School of Medicine, where she was a participant in the UCSF PRIME Urban-Underserved program. She completed residency training in Family & Community Medicine at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital. Her interests include STI/HIV prevention and treatment, reproductive justice, community-based participatory research, health and social justice policy/advocacy, and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in medical education.