Viviana Martinez-Bianchi Oral History Interview, 2024

Using These Materials Teaser

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:
None.
More about accessing and using these materials...

Summary

Creator:
Martinez-Bianchi, Viviana
Abstract:
Dr. Viviana Martinez-Bianchi is a family doctor; fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians; Associate Professor and Director for Health Equity at Duke University's Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; and co-founder of LATIN-19, the Latinx Advocacy Team and Interdisciplinary Network for COVID-19, a multisector group addressing Hispanic health that was created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her areas of focus are Health Disparities, Access to Health Care, Women's Health, Latino Health Care, Chronic Disease Management, Socioeconomic Determinants of Health, and Population Health. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on January 26, 2024 by Fiorella Orozco as part of the Bass Connections Agents of Change Oral History Project. In the interview, Martinez-Bianchi explores her early life and career, and her role as an activist at Duke Health. The themes of this interview include family medicine, health disparities, research, and community-based interventions.
Extent:
1 interview (1 transcript) and 1.82 GB
Collection ID:
OH.MARTINEZBIANCHIV

Background

Scope and content:

Includes 1 oral history interview with Dr. Viviana Martinez-Bianchi conducted on January 26, 2024 by Fiorella Orozco as part of the Bass Connections Agents of Change Oral History Project.

In the January 26, 2024 interview, Martinez-Bianchi explores her early life and career, and her role as an activist at Duke Health. The themes of this interview include family medicine, health disparities, research, and community-based interventions.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. Viviana Martinez-Bianchi is a family doctor; fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians; Associate Professor and Director for Health Equity at Duke University's Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; and co-founder of LATIN-19, the Latinx Advocacy Team and Interdisciplinary Network for COVID-19, a multisector group addressing Hispanic health that was created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her areas of focus are Health Disparities, Access to Health Care, Women's Health, Latino Health Care, Chronic Disease Management, Socioeconomic Determinants of Health, and Population Health.

Martinez-Bianchi's worldview was shaped by her firsthand experience of political oppression, as well as the influence of her parents, both of whom were deeply involved in healthcare and policymaking. Driven by her parents' activism in healthcare, Martinez-Bianchi embarked on a challenging path to pursue medicine at the National University of Rosario Faculty of Medicine in Rosario, Argentina. Admission was fiercely competitive, and she fearlessly challenged restrictive standards, even resorting to a hunger strike and protesting at the chancellor's office. In a system that favored the privileged, she recognized the urgent need for a more inclusive approach to medical education, particularly in training physicians who were passionate about caring for underserved communities. She received her medical degree in 1990.

After completing medical school, Martinez-Bianchi moved to the United States, drawn to family medicine for its emphasis on holistic care and community engagement. She completed Residencies in Family Medicine at Hinsdale Hospital in Chicago, Illinois (1992-1994) and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (1994-1996). Her experiences in both Argentina and the United States solidified her commitment to addressing health disparities and advocating for marginalized populations, including rural and low-socioeconomic status communities, which she pursued in Iowa, serving as a rural medicine doctor for several years after completing her residency.

After many harsh winters in Iowa, Martinez- Bianchi moved to North Carolina where she was challenged with transforming the Family Residency Program at Duke. In Durham, her advocacy extends beyond the hospital walls, as she has spoken out against policies that perpetuate health disparities in the political sphere. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Martinez-Bianchi co-founded LATIN-19 with Dr. Gabriela Maradiaga Panayotti, a Duke pediatrician. This organization emerged as a powerful voice for the Latinx community, whose access to quality healthcare has long been neglected.

Martinez- Bianchi served as President-Elect (2024) and Executive Member-at-Large of the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) from 2016-2021 and WONCA liaison to the World Health Organization, and chair of the Organizational Equity committee. She has also served as a Latinx Health advisor for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) under Secretary Mandy Cohen. She is a member of the Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental, and Health Equity Task Force, and she serves in the NC DHHS Historically Marginalized Populations COVID-19 Response team, in the Steering Committee of the North Carolina COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee, convened by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM), NC Medical Society's Health and Racial Equity Task Force (HRETF), and in the Vulnerable Populations Subcommittee of the Durham's Recovery & Renewal Task Force (RRTF). In 2020, Dr Martinez-Bianchi was featured in a mini-documentary video by Univision, highlighting her work in the pandemic. The title of the short film is "The Heroes of the Pandemic".

Martinez- Bianchi's commitment to advancing healthcare on an international scale has had a global impact, and her words resonate deeply as she reflects, "I cannot imagine not being an activist in a world with so many inequities and so many disparities. I cannot imagine staying quiet when I see so many things not going well." Martinez-Bianchi's unwavering dedication to healthcare equity and advocacy for marginalized communities will continue to shape the landscape of family medicine worldwide.

Acquisition information:
Accession A2024.061 (transferred by Rebecca Williams, May 2024)
Processing information:

Processed by Lucy Waldrop: September 2024

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Interview, January 26, 2024.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

None.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Viviana Martinez-Bianchi Oral History Interview, Duke University Medical Center Archives.