The health disparities that predominantly affect Black Americans and her family’s legacy in human rights activism were the driving forces for Dr. Jessie Fields to transform the lives of hundreds of patients through medicine, art, and social justice. She has been advocating for equal access to healthcare and serving the community through medicine since 1985.
Fields is a Harlem-based physician who grew up in Pennsylvania. From a very young age, she knew her calling would be to transform disadvantaged communities through her work as a doctor.
“I could see the relationship between the conditions that people were growing up in, the conditions people lived in — economic conditions, lack of quality education, poverty, oppression, discrimination,” Fields said in describing how her own family environment motivated her to pursue a career in medicine. “I knew that those things affected health, and I wanted to expand my career as a physician and be able to impact the community broadly.”
Related: Plan may shut out Harlem residents from affordable housing
After being board-certified in internal medicine, Fields moved to New York in 1991 to work as a primary care physician for the Health Insurance Plan of New York and then for the 32-BJ Union Health Center. In 1994, she became affiliated with North General Hospital in Harlem and remained on the voluntary staff there until the hospital closed in 2010.
Fields also leads the initiative Creating Our Mental Health, which, with workshops with therapists and performance activists from the East Side Institute, uses poetry to build social connection and bring history and emotion together in the group-building process.
The workshops led by Fields, held at refugee centers, residential facilities, and food banks, aim to help communities gain tools for managing their emotions.
For Fields, medicine and community service have always been interconnected.
“I do all these different things, but I’m the same person doing them. However, for me, human health and growth are very connected,” said Fields about her work as both a doctor and community organizer. “I see patients with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and other infectious diseases and they come from communities where I see racial health disparities directly.”
Throughout her career as a doctor, Fields has inspired young people interested in the field of medicine to stay connected with communities and listen to their needs. Since 2014, she has served as an educator for the course “The Art and Science of Medicine” and mentored third-year medical students at Mount Sinai. She also works in youth development programs for underserved communities, helping young people interested in pursuing careers in medicine through the All Stars Project Development School for Youth.
Dr. Jessie Fields’ dedication to addressing health disparities in the Black community through medicine, art, and activism is truly inspiring. Her holistic approach not only highlights the interconnectedness of health and socio-economic factors but also empowers the next generation of medical professionals. Stories like hers are a vital reminder of the transformative power of community-oriented healthcare. Thank you for sharing this important narrative!