How Public Health Saved Your Life | Leana Wen, MD

Aug 29, 2023

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According to emergency physician Leana Wen, MD, MS, "public health saved your life today, you just don't know it." Having been appointed the Baltimore City Health Commissioner at the age of 31, she certainly has the credentials and stories to illustrate this assertion. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, public health played a frequently misunderstood and under-appreciated role in our society, ranging from sanitation and immunization to mental health support and pollution control. In addition to her public health work, Dr. Wen is the author of the 2021 memoir Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health. She is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, a medical analyst for CNN, professor of health policy and management at George Washington University, former president of Planned Parenthood, and in 2019 was named one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People. In this episode, Dr. Wen not only unpacks what public health is, but also shares her challenging upbringing as a child of immigrants, how she became the health commissioner of a city she had not previously worked or lived in, lessons on decision making in a crisis, the importance of finding good mentors, and more.

In this episode, you will hear about:

2:08 - Dr. Wen’s childhood as an immigrant to the US and her early experiences as a patient
6:34 - Why Dr. Wen decided to train as an emergency medicine physician and how she got into public health
9:27 - The ways in which emergency medicine training prepared Dr. Wen for a career in public heath
13:34 - Dr. Wen’s objectives as she entered the role of Baltimore City Health Commissioner
17:05 - Balancing priorities when confronted with the complexities of public health
21:50 - Navigating public health policy within our challenging political climate
26:16 - The importance of telling success stories in public health to spread awareness of its importance
28:24 - Dr. Wen’s advice on what to look for in a good mentor
32:15 - What ties together the many experiences Dr. Wen has had throughout her career

Dr. Leana Wen is also the co-author of When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnosis and Unnecessary Tests(2014).

Follow Dr. Wen on Twitter @DrLeanaWen.

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