Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Regina Lewis

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu

Spotlighting Dr. Regina Lewis, Family Medicine physician and OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine alumna.

Where are you from?

Tulsa, Oklahoma

What drew you to attend OSU as a medical student?

I grew up around the corner from OSU Center for Health Sciences and I remember touring the medical school as a child.

What led you to then practice at OSU Medicine and become a clinical faculty member?

I was a patient at the Family Medicine clinic when I was a child ... Later, I trained there as a resident. I wanted to work in a practice that I actually had history with. I wanted to let other kids of color see someone that looked like them, which is something I never saw as a patient at the Health Care Center.

How long have you been at OSU as a physician and clinical faculty? What topics or classes do you teach?

I started practicing in the OSU Family Medicine clinic in 2007. I have helped with the obstetrics lectures, teaching breast and pelvic exams, small group discussions and co-course coordinator for some of the global health trips since I have been a faculty member at OSU-CHS.

Why did you want to be a doctor?

I originally wanted to be a cardiologist when I was kid. I later would witness how people would advise teenage girls that were pregnant to forget their dreams. I knew I needed to work in women's health as a family medicine physician so that I could keep in touch with the teen mothers and their babies and to provide encouragement that they might not receive at home.

Were you encouraged to pursue medicine by teachers, professors, family and friends?

I am the first in my family to be a physician. My family encouraged me to pursue my dream of becoming a physician.

You have said you didn’t see many physicians and health care professionals that looked like you? Did that influence your decision to go into medicine?

Growing up I did not see physicians that looked like me. Being a woman of color, it made me want to provide a space for patients who look like me to feel comfortable with their health care provider.

Why is diversity important to medicine and health care?

Diversity is important to medicine and health care. I believe it is important for patients to see providers that look like them. It's important for providers to know about different cultures, in addition to the health inequities that are present between people of color vs non-people of color and how systemic racism also leads to health inequality.