Hooked on Primary Care with Janet Nwaukoni, DO

Growing up, medicine seemed like a distant aspiration.

Witnessing the direct impact of health care inequities, I was motivated to advocate for marginalized voices through medicine. My journey was not always met with positivity because I navigated negative encounters and many closed doors. However, these doors fueled my desire to redefine and achieve success.

Family medicine found me. It offered a canvas to blend my curiosity for the sciences, foster trust with my patients and serve as an advocate for change within my community. COVID highlighted the disparities and mistrust in medicine and served as my awakening, proving that my role in medicine was not solely to treat, but to heal.

As frontline health care providers intricately connected to the needs of our communities, family medicine physicians bear the responsibility to champion policies that ensure equitable access to health care and address the social determinants of health. Over time, my experience proved this possible through advocacy trips to the capitol, volunteering locally and internationally, and simply amplifying the voice of others.

So as a young girl, born in Brooklyn, nurtured by Nigerian heritage, who dreamed to change the world, I have discovered my transformative impact through family medicine.

Janet Nwaukoni, DO
Resident member, American Academy of Family Physicians board of directors