Women in Health
This workshop will begin with what it currently means to be a woman in health and end with a call to action towards gender equity. First, three women of color (WOC) will share their journeys to and as first-year students in the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program. They will describe their involvement in advocating for public health and social justice, the unique challenges they face as WOC, and how they sustain themselves. They will then present on the current state of gender-based aggressions in the field of medicine to frame the work they have been doing to institute equity. Specifically, they will share about #MeToo in Medicine, the first survivor-centered storytelling and allyship training event at UCSF, and The Freedom School for Intersectional Medicine, a student-created community of health students, professionals, and community members committed to health justice.
Nazineen Kandahari
Nazineen (Naz) Kandahari was born in the Middle East and raised in the Bay Area. At the University of California, Berkeley, she studied Public Health and Molecular & Cell Biology with an emphasis in Infectious Disease. Her life experience managing the health of her refugee family ignited her passion to change the individual and structural systems perpetuating health disparities. Her commitment to health equity was further fueled by her research with Kaiser Permanente on improving reproductive and sexual health services for young women of color, her honors thesis with an HHMI-funded molecular genetics lab on delaying age-related decline, and her service with a predominantly Latino church on using technology to produce culturally-sensitive cancer-screening promotion materials. As a future physician, Nazineen is committed to the cultural humility framework and particularly interested in healthy aging, trauma-informed care, and reproductive justice. Nazineen firmly believes that happiness and balance fuel success; for her, this manifests as maintaining an active lifestyle, creating art, baking and enjoying sweets, and exploring the outdoors.
Noor Chadha
Noor Chadha is a first year medical student and masters student at the UC Berkeley - UCSF Joint Medical Program (JMP). She graduated from UC Berkeley in May with a major in Molecular and Cell biology, and a minor in Global Poverty and Practice. Now that she’s at the JMP, some of the things Noor has become involved with include the Freedom School for Intersectional Medicine and Health Justice, Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP), and Students for Racial Justice, Inclusion, and Diversity (STRIDE). Noor also loves dancing - specifically Bhangra!Noor Chadha is a first year medical student and masters student at the UC Berkeley - UCSF Joint Medical Program (JMP). She graduated from UC Berkeley in May with a major in Molecular and Cell biology, and a minor in Global Poverty and Practice. Now that she’s at the JMP, some of the things Noor has become involved with include the Freedom School for Intersectional Medicine and Health Justice, Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP), and Students for Racial Justice, Inclusion, and Diversity (STRIDE). Noor also loves dancing - specifically Bhangra!
Anshu Gaur
Anshu is her first year at the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program. Her love for food and cooking, both as healing and as a way to connect with others, led her to study Nutrition at Cornell University. She also pursued her love for writing and pondering the meaning of life through taking classes Buddhism and English and spending time abroad. While in college, you could find her cooking with kids as part of an after school program, going on outdoor adventures whenever possible, discovering her joy for performing spoken word poetry, and from time to time, wondering whether she would get into medical school. After graduating, Anshu worked as a Health Educator in San Francisco, working with Spanish-speaking seniors to help manage their diabetes and on occasion, running some fitness classes, which was a blast. As a medical student, Anshu is excited to pursue her interests in mental health and the power of storytelling. The things that keeps her going are running, meditating, performing at open mic nights, caring about life outside of "medicine", thinking about healing more holistically, and her absolutely incredible and inspiring friends/classmates who have continue to support her and help her grow in ways she could have never imagined.