Esther Choo
{{short description|Emergency physician and professor}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Esther Choo
| image = Esther Choo at Medicine 2.0'12 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Choo at the World Congress on Internet in Health and Medicine in 2012
| workplaces = Oregon Health & Science University (2016-)
| alma_mater = Yale University (MD, 2001)
Oregon Health & Science University (MPH, 2009)
}}
Esther Choo is an emergency physician and professor at the Oregon Health & Science University. She is a popular science communicator who has used social media to talk about racism and sexism in healthcare. She was the president of the Academy of Women in Academic Emergency Medicine and is a member of the American Association of Women Emergency Physicians. She was a co-founder and a board member of Time's Up. On February 26, 2021, Choo was named in a lawsuit against OHSU alleging that Choo failed to take action when she was made aware of an alleged sexual assault involving Dr. Jason Campbell, who became popular on TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |author1= REBECCA KEEGAN |title=#MeToo, Five Years Later: Why Time's Up Imploded |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/metoo-five-years-later-times-up-1235228096/ |access-date=November 4, 2022 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=October 3, 2022 |quote=Time's Up's health care arm resigned over the group's handling of allegations that co-founder and board member Esther Choo failed to report complaints of sexual harassment}}
Early life
Choo grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.{{Cite news|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/08/portland_doctor_responds_to_ra.html|title=Portland doctor Esther Choo responds to racism in the emergency room (Column)|work=OregonLive.com|access-date=2018-07-21|language=en-US}} Her parents emigrated from Korea in the 1960s.{{Cite web|url=https://medicine.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=15634|title=Prejudice in the emergency room {{!}} Yale School of Medicine|language=en|access-date=2018-07-21}} She graduated in 1994 with a degree in English from Yale College.{{Cite news|url=http://www.yalescientific.org/2018/01/alumni-profile-esther-choo-je-94-md-01/|title=Alumni Profile: Esther Choo (JE '94, MD '01)|last=Chen|first=Grace|date=2018-01-28|work=Yale Scientific Magazine|access-date=2018-07-22|language=en-US}} She was an intern at The Plain Dealer, a newspaper in Cleveland.{{Cite news|url=https://moneyish.com/ish/an-emergency-medicine-physician-tells-moneyish-how-women-in-her-field-get-treated-differently/|title=An emergency medicine physician tells Moneyish how women in her field get treated differently|access-date=2018-07-22|language=en-us}} She earned a medical degree at Yale University in 2001. She was a resident at Boston Medical Center. In 2009, she returned for further training, earning a Master's in Public Health at Oregon Health & Science University.
Career
Choo completed her emergency medicine residency at Boston Medical Center, did a health services research fellowship at Oregon Health & Science University, and later became an associate professor at the Alpert Medical School. She won the 2012 Outstanding Physician Award from the University Emergency Medicine Foundation,{{Cite web|url=http://www.ohsu.edu/emergency/faculty/index.cfm?profile=chooe§ion=research|title=Faculty Directory {{!}} Emergency Medicine {{!}} OHSU|website=ohsu.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-07-22}} the SAEM Young Investigator Award,{{Cite web|title=SAEM Past Award Winners|url=https://www.saem.org/research/saem-awards/past-award-winners|language=en|access-date=2018-10-08}} and the OHSU Emerging Leader Award {{Cite web|title=Creating change by engaging communities|url=https://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-medicine/news-and-events/WAM-conference-2018.cfm|language=en|access-date=2018-10-08}} Since 2016, she has been an associate professor at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital. Her research interests include developing effective interventions for women who experience partner violence and substance misuse.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/about/departments/emergency-medicine/whec|title=Division of Women's Health in Emergency Care {{!}} Department of Emergency Medicine|website=www.brown.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-07-22}} In 2018, she was the co-founder of Equity Quotient,{{Cite web|title=Equity Quotient|url=https://www.eqmedicine.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-08}} a start-up which monitors and addresses equity culture in healthcare organizations.
= Advocacy =
She is an advocate for more multiculturalism, gender parity and diversity in medicine, often praising women's doctors.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Interview with Esther Choo: "You can advocate as a 'regular person' doctor"|url=https://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-medicine/news-and-events/radu-esther-choo-interview.cfm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/8239/20181122185455/https://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-medicine/news-and-events/radu-esther-choo-interview.cfm|archive-date=2018-11-22|access-date=2020-06-08|website=Oregon Health & Science University|language=en}} She has written for the blog FemInEM, a resource for women in emergency medicine.{{Cite web|url=https://feminem.org/author/esther/|title=Esther Choo, MD, MPH, Author at FemInEM|website=FemInEM|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-21}} Choo was President of the Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine.{{Cite web|url=http://community.saem.org/communities/community-home?CommunityKey=58595efd-f39b-45ac-93b4-398646d11f4f|title=AWAEM: Academy for Women in Academic Emergency Medicine - Society for Academic Emergency Medicine|website=community.saem.org|language=en|access-date=2018-07-22}} She was a leader of the Division of Women's Health in Emergency Care at Alpert Medical School, and is President of the non-profit Gender Equity Research Group.
She started a conversation about racism in medicine on Twitter after the August 12 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
@choo_ek: 1/ We've got a lot of white nationalists in Oregon. So a few times a year, a patient in the ER refuses treatment from me because of my race.{{Cite news|url=https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/896850427408293888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E896850427408293888&ref_url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/21/asian-american-doctor-white-nationalist-patients-refused-my-care-over-race/|title=Esther Choo, MD MPH on Twitter|work=Twitter|access-date=2018-07-21|language=en}}The tweet was shared by 25,000 people, including Chelsea Clinton.{{Cite news|first=|date=|title=Asian American doctor: White nationalist patients refused my care over race|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/21/asian-american-doctor-white-nationalist-patients-refused-my-care-over-race/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2018-07-21|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}}
= Controversies =
On June 21, 2019, Choo tweeted "White people can be exhausting. Just an observation."{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2019-06-21|title=Esther Choo, MD MPH on Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1142040334274220032|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Twitter.com}} Choo's employer, OHSU, noted that the comment was posted on a personal account, and "does not purport to represent the views of OHSU, this communication does not violate any OHSU policy or prohibition."{{Cite web|title=Oregon Doctor Tweets That "White People Can Be Exhausting" - Accuracy In Academia|url=https://www.academia.org/oregon-doctor-tweets-that-white-people-can-be-exhausting/|access-date=2021-01-23|website=academia.org/|date=24 June 2019 |language=en-US}}
On February 26, 2021, Choo was named in a lawsuit against OHSU alleging that Choo failed to take action when she was made aware of an alleged sexual assault involving Dr. Jason Campbell, who became popular on TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|last=Oregonian/OregonLive|first=Maxine Bernstein {{!}} The|date=2021-02-28|title=TikTok Doc harassed Portland colleague with texts, photos, unwanted sexual advances, $45 million lawsuit alleges|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/02/tiktok-doc-harassed-portland-colleague-with-texts-photos-unwanted-sexual-advances-45-million-lawsuit-alleges.html|access-date=2021-03-03|website=oregonlive|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Time's Up Founder Choo Accused in Harassment Mishandling|url=http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946678|access-date=2021-03-03|website=Medscape}} Two months after Choo had been informed of the sexual assaults she went on to promote Dr. Campbell on social media. When the woman who had been assaulted confronted Choo about her open support of Dr. Campbell, Choo responded "I don't need policing by White women". On March 4, Times Up released a statement supporting Choo.{{Cite web|title=TIME'S UP Responds to Lawsuit Against Dr. Campbell and OHSU|url=https://timesupfoundation.org/newsroom/times-up-responds-to-lawsuit-against-dr-campbell-and-ohsu/|access-date=2021-03-06|website=TIME'S UP Foundation|language=en}} Following this statement at least 4 founding members of Times Up Healthcare resigned in protest{{Cite web|date=2021-03-05|title=Multiple founders of Time's Up Healthcare resign|url=https://www.statnews.com/2021/03/05/at-least-4-founders-of-times-up-healthcare-resign-as-organization-mum-on-sexual-harassment-suit/|access-date=2021-03-06|website=STAT|language=en-US}} and 10 founders were removed from the Times Up Healthcare website.{{Cite news|date=2020-12-01|title=Meet our Founding Members in Health Care - TIME'S UP Foundation|newspaper=Time's up Foundation |url=https://timesupfoundation.org/work/times-up-healthcare/meet-our-founding-members-in-health-care/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201023012/https://timesupfoundation.org/work/times-up-healthcare/meet-our-founding-members-in-health-care/|archive-date=2020-12-01}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choo, Esther}}
Category:American emergency physicians
Category:American Internet celebrities
Category:American physicians of Korean descent
Category:American science communicators
Category:Brown University faculty
Category:Oregon Health & Science University alumni
Category:Oregon Health & Science University faculty
Category:Women medical researchers