Rhea Boyd facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rhea W. Boyd
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Boyd speaks to the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce in 2020
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| Alma mater | University of Notre Dame (BA) Vanderbilt University (MD) Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (MPH) |
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| Institutions | University of California, San Francisco |
Rhea W. Boyd is an American doctor who specializes in caring for children, called a pediatrician. She also works to improve the health of communities, especially those of color. Dr. Boyd is great at sharing science information. She uses social media to help many different voices be heard, all to make communities healthier.
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Early Life and Education
Rhea Boyd grew up in two places: Los Angeles and Akron, Ohio. When she was a child, she went to a Catholic school where most students were white. She knew early on that she wanted to become a doctor.
In 2006, Dr. Boyd earned her first college degree from the University of Notre Dame. She studied a special program that combined Africana studies (learning about African American history and culture) with health. While in college, she wrote for the student newspaper, focusing on topics about race in America.
Dr. Boyd then went to medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, earning her medical degree in 2010. After that, she moved to California. She completed her special training (called a residency) in pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)'s UCSF Medical Center in 2013.
While training at UCSF, Dr. Boyd started a blog where she wrote about being a pediatrician. She was part of a special program called Paediatric Leadership for the Underserved. This program teaches doctors how to care for children from groups who often don't get enough healthcare. In 2017, Dr. Boyd earned another degree, a Master of Public Health, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This degree focuses on improving health for whole communities. She also received a special scholarship during this time.
Career Highlights
Dr. Boyd works as a doctor who sees patients. She has also teamed up with San Diego 211 as their chief medical officer. This means she helps guide their health programs. Dr. Boyd has taught classes about how unfair systems in society (like structural inequality) can affect people's health. She is an expert in child and community health.
She has worked with other doctors, health groups, local leaders, and tech companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her goal is to make it easier for people to get health services. After her successful blog, Dr. Boyd started her own website, Rhea.MD. There, she talks about how race, gender, and health are connected. She is especially worried about how police brutality affects the health of Black boys and men.
Advocating for Health Equity
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Boyd spoke out about health differences that Black Americans faced. These differences meant they were often hit harder by the virus. After the murder of George Floyd, Dr. Boyd became even more involved in fighting for social justice.
She was one of many doctors who supported the George Floyd protests during the pandemic. She famously said that "protest is a profound public health intervention." This means she believes protesting against unfairness can actually help make people healthier. In an interview with Time magazine, Dr. Boyd explained her view. She said if people understood that racism harms health, they would see protests as a way to fix these problems.
On June 17, 2020, Dr. Boyd spoke to the U.S. Congress' House of Representatives. She gave expert advice to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Her talk was about "Health Care Inequality: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 and the Health Care System."
Improving Health Research
Dr. Boyd worked with another expert, Monica McLemore, to create new rules for how health research talks about racial differences. They noticed that some research made it seem like racism wasn't a big cause of health problems. Dr. Boyd and McLemore believe that to solve unfair health differences, we must deal with racism itself. They want to build a new healthcare system that doesn't benefit from people being sick due to inequality.
Their ideas included:
- Stopping the idea that race is a biological thing that causes health problems. They also want to stop blaming patients for their health issues.
- Being clear about how racism affects health and healthcare, instead of hiding it.
- Having stronger rules for how research on racial health differences is published.
Memberships
Dr. Boyd is part of several important groups:
- Since 2016, she has been a Board Member for the American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 1.
- Since 2016, she has been an Executive Committee Member for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Executive Committee on Communications and Media.
- She is the Director of Equity and Justice for the California Children's Trust.
Images for kids
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Dr. Rhea Boyd speaking to the U.S. Congress in 2020.
