Rebekah D. Fenton

Rebekah D. Fenton (born 1990) is an American pediatrician and adolescent health advocate. Fenton is an Adolescent Medicine Fellow in The Potocsnak Family Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Lurie Children's Hospital at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.

Fenton's clinical work is centered around providing healthcare for marginalized youth populations with a focus on cultural humility and health equity.

After the police murder of George Floyd, Fenton provided medical care to protestors and has created virtual grieving spaces for Black and brown people in her medical community.

Fenton also writes about topics such as public health, adolescent medicine, and diversity in medicine.

Early life and education Fenton grew up in Sacramento, California. Fenton's parents both worked in healthcare. Fenton attended St. Francis High School, an all-women's high school, in Sacramento, California. In high school, Fenton's sister was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma; this experience inspired Fenton's future work with adolescents. In 2010, Fenton worked with her friend Michael Tubbs to create a program at Stanford which heledp underrepresented high school students apply to college and become the first in their families to post secondary education. During medical school, Fenton also found out about the return of her sister's cancer.

Career and advocacy In 2019, Fenton became an Adolescent Medicine Fellow in the Potocsnak Family Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. Fenton specializes in Adolescent Medicine Fenton also continues to advocate for supporting minorities in medicine. She organizes group mentoring sessions for medical students from racially underrepresented backgrounds to help them prepare their applications for pediatric residency programs. Fenton also worked with her colleagues to create a grieving space for Black and brown healthcare workers and students. 2016 Selected Student Speaker for her Medical School Graduating Class at Perelman School of Medicine 2020 Bustle.com “Talking About Racism Must Be A Part Of Health Care, According To A Doctor” 2020 Medpage Today “Can't We Do Better to Support Minorities in Medicine? — At every step, too many of us fall by the wayside” 2018 UW Medicine Newsroom “As med school swells vocabulary, plain English can wither” 2018 Kevin MD.com “Medical education systematically ignores the diversity of medical practice” 2016 The Philadelphia Inquirer “Despite doubts and hurdles, why medicine is a calling for Penn Med student” 2015 The Grown Up Truth “Diary of A Young Pro: Rebekah Lucien” ''

Publications

Fenton, R. (2019). When Doctors Unlearn English. Journal of Palliative Care, 34(1), 16–17. Rebekah Fenton, Sara Handschin, Yolanda Evans. 81 - “What Options Do I Have?”: Qualitative Analysis of Comments by Transgender Youth and Their Families on Adolescent Health Blog. Journal of Adolescent Health. Volume 62, Issue 2, Supplement, 2018, Pages S44-S45, ISSN 1054-139X.