When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests
(In 2013, St. Martin's Press published her book, When Doct...)
In 2013, St. Martin's Press published her book, When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests with coauthor Joshua Kosowsky. It is about how patients can take control of their health to advocate for better care for themselves.
Leana Sheryle Wen is an American physician and writer.
Background
Leana Sheryle Wen was born on January 27, 1983 Shanghai, China to Ying Sandy Zhang and Xiaolu Wen, Wen moved with her parents to the U.S. when she was eight, by then having the English name Leana Sheryle Wen. Granted political asylum, the Wen family lived in Compton and East Los Angeles in Southern California. In 2003, Wen and her family became U.S. citizens.
Wen's mother, who died from breast cancer in 2010, first worked as a hotel room cleaner and video store clerk before becoming an elementary school teacher. Her father delivered newspapers and was a dishwasher, later serving as technology manager for The Chinese Daily News in Los Angeles.
Education
Attending the Early Entrance Program (EEP) at California State University, Los Angeles starting at age 13, Leana Wen graduated summa cum laude at age 18 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, in 2001. She received a Doctor of Medicine from Washington University School of Medicine and has two master's degrees, one in Economic and Social History and another in Modern Chinese Studies, both from the Merton College, Oxford in England where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
Career
Leana Wen is the former president of Planned Parenthood, former Health Commissioner for the City of Baltimore, and author of the book When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests.
Currently, she is a Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management at the George Washington University, where she is also a Distinguished Fellow in the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity.
Leana Wen previously practiced as an emergency physician at the George Washington University, where she served as a professor in the School of Medicine & Health Sciences and professor in health policy at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. Prior to this, she was an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. She also served as the national president of the American Medical Student Association and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine/Resident and Student Association. From December 2014 until October 2018, Leana Wen served as the health commissioner for Baltimore City under two mayors.
On September 12, 2018, Leana Wen was appointed head of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She was Planned Parenthood's first Asian American president and the first physician to serve as the organization's president in nearly 50 years. Leana Wen was asked to step down by Planned Parenthood's board of directors on July 16, 2019.