Boonshoft School of Medicine faculty member participates in event addressing Black maternal and infant mortality

David Dhanraj is chief medical officer and a physician with the Wright State Physicians OB/GYN clinic and associate professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and associate dean for clinical affairs at the Boonshoft School of Medicine.

David Dhanraj, M.D., chief medical officer and a physician with the Wright State Physicians OB/GYN clinic, recently participated in a panel discussion about funding solutions to high maternal and infant mortality rates in the Dayton region.

Dhanraj is also associate professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and associate dean for clinical affairs at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Dhanraj, who is co-leader of the medical school’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, is an advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion in the health care community and assuring equitable care for underserved communities, particularly in OB/GYN.

Dhanraj said it is important for health care providers to listen to patients and see them as partners.

“We’ve got to train our docs differently, to break through the institutional racism, the biases, and also make sure that people know that there’s mechanisms to get heard,” Dhanraj said.

Prior to joining Wright State Physicians and the Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dhanraj practiced in Cincinnati, where he helped reduce the rate of infant mortality in a predominantly minority neighborhood in that area.

Read more about the panel discussion at WYSO.org.