Author: Valencia Walker, MD

Valencia Walker, MD Valencia Walker, MD (1 Posts)

Physician Guest Writer

David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA

Dr. Valencia Walker is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA. She is a practicing neonatologist with research interests focused on optimizing maternal-child health for local and international communities. As the Associate Medical Director of the UCLA Santa Monica NICU and Medical Director for UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center Newborn Nursery, Dr. Walker works as the physician champion for several projects designed to improve outcomes for the mother-infant dyad. Dr. Walker also travels to countries such as India, Guatemala, Tanzania and Haiti for medical mission trips. She has been dedicated to providing care for sick children and working in collaboration with local health officers to improve medical infrastructures as well as address the social, economic and health inequities within these countries.

Dr. Walker sits on a national committee for the Association of American Medical Colleges that is charged with crafting the design and implementation of policy statements that shape the country’s narrative surrounding barriers to better health outcomes in the United States. At the state level, she is Chairperson of the Ethnic Medical Organizations Section of the California Medical Association (CMA) and previously served on the CMA’s Science and Public Health Reference Committee which advises and guides the policies supported by the CMA for the welfare of patients and providers. Additionally, Dr. Walker is the current president for the Association of Black Women Physicians (ABWP). The mission of ABWP is to advocate for achieving health equity across traditionally underserved communities and eliminating the health disparities that exist.




Seeing Past the Unicorns In Medicine, by Valencia Walker, MD

Published by Valencia Walker, MD

As an “underrepresented minority” in medicine, my personal experiences of mistreatment while navigating the challenges of pursuing this career are mostly invisible to the rest of society, but I know that they are far from mythical or unique. In fact, my experiences harmonize perfectly with the tales of so many African-American physicians before me and even in the accounts of the students I currently mentor. Everyone asks, “Aren’t things different now for African-Americans?” Yes. But, are they better? Sadly, not exactly.

Valencia Walker, MD Valencia Walker, MD (1 Posts)

Physician Guest Writer

David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA

Dr. Valencia Walker is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA. She is a practicing neonatologist with research interests focused on optimizing maternal-child health for local and international communities. As the Associate Medical Director of the UCLA Santa Monica NICU and Medical Director for UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center Newborn Nursery, Dr. Walker works as the physician champion for several projects designed to improve outcomes for the mother-infant dyad. Dr. Walker also travels to countries such as India, Guatemala, Tanzania and Haiti for medical mission trips. She has been dedicated to providing care for sick children and working in collaboration with local health officers to improve medical infrastructures as well as address the social, economic and health inequities within these countries.

Dr. Walker sits on a national committee for the Association of American Medical Colleges that is charged with crafting the design and implementation of policy statements that shape the country’s narrative surrounding barriers to better health outcomes in the United States. At the state level, she is Chairperson of the Ethnic Medical Organizations Section of the California Medical Association (CMA) and previously served on the CMA’s Science and Public Health Reference Committee which advises and guides the policies supported by the CMA for the welfare of patients and providers. Additionally, Dr. Walker is the current president for the Association of Black Women Physicians (ABWP). The mission of ABWP is to advocate for achieving health equity across traditionally underserved communities and eliminating the health disparities that exist.