Dr. Leana Wen Visits Bryn Mawr

The Bryn Mawr School welcomed physician and former Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen to campus this week. Dr. Wen is also an op-ed columnist, media public health commentator and author. 

Lizzy McClelland ‘22 and Jordan King ‘22 interviewed Dr. Wen in Centennial Hall for the Upper School audience. Sharing stories of her childhood as an immigrant living in Utah and California, Dr. Wen reflected on how she was inspired to pursue public health because she saw early on what it means to a community when people do not have access to health care. “I knew these were preventable problems,” she said. “Health care should be a right not a privilege.” 

Dr. Wen discussed her significant work in Baltimore to reduce racial disparities in infant mortality and provide access to lifesaving medication for individuals and families impacted by the opioid epidemic. “We are all in it together,” she said of Baltimore City. “Our actions impact each other.”

While interviewing Dr. Wen, Jordan appreciated her philosophy that public health is a joint discipline between science and humanities. “Dr. Wen talked about the importance of approaching public health from a humanities perspective, as well as a scientific one. We don't usually get to see the interconnectedness of both disciplines and I'm happy she made it a point to emphasize that there is space where both can exist and thrive off of each other," Jordan said.

Ending with a few pieces of career advice, Dr. Wen stressed the importance of getting involved with an area students care about, no matter what the opportunity is. She encouraged students to “start somewhere” because there are endless possibilities to gain experience and knowledge.