S2Ep2: Dr. Aisha Mays: On Being Free-Spirited, Tenacious, and Balanced in Medicine

Woke WOC Docs

Dr. Aisha Mays is a passionate advocate for the health and well-being of young people. While she wears many hats as a doctor, researcher, mentor, and advocate, what strikes us most is how she melds her advocacy work and career with her hobbies and strives for balance throughout her life journey. In this episode, Aisha describes her journey into and through medicine, including childhood experiences that affirmed the need for more Black womxn in medicine. In addition, she shares her adamant hopes to challenge and break down silos by blending art and creativity in her work, particularly as the founding Medical Director of Dream Youth Clinic, a youth-led and youth-centered clinic in Downtown Oakland. As she’s been able to meld her career with her own hobbies, she is a testament to her own guiding philosophies of being free-spirited, tenacious, and balanced in medicine. Bio: Dr. Aisha Mays is a core faculty member at the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, clinical researcher at the UCSF Bixby Center for Reproductive Health, and founding Medical Director of Dream Youth Clinic in Oakland. Her current research centers on advocacy for girls who are at risk or engaged in sexual exploitation. Dr. Mays entered the world of research through her clinical practice at the Native American Health Center, where she began to have questions about the clinical care and outcomes of her adolescent patients. She believes in equitable reproductive health care access for all women regardless of age or socioeconomic status. Dr. Mays is a member of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals Clinical Advisory Committee, and faculty in Physicians for Reproductive Health Adolescent and Reproductive Sexual Health Education Program.