Karen Aletha Maybank is an American physician. She is board certified in both pediatrics and preventive medicine/public health. Maybank is the chief health equity officer and vice president of the American Medical Association.
Maybank is a pediatrician and preventive medicine physician. She is a founding board member of the Artemis Medical Society, an organization of over 2,500 Black female physicians, established in 2012.[1][2]
Maybank co-founded "We Are Doc McStuffins,[3]" with two other founding members of Artemis Medical Society, Myiesha Taylor, Naeemah Ghafur, who were inspired by the Disney Junior character Doc Mcstuffins. In the initiative she shared insights into her work and what it's like to be a physician.
Maybank participated in medical mission trips to Haïti following the devastating earthquake in 2010, providing direct care to child survivors; she created the blog "On Call in the City" in an effort to make health an accessible topic "wherever one lives, works, plays, and prays”.[4][5] She has a bi-weekly column, Doctor's Orders, on the website of EBONY magazine.[4][6] The column was established for Maybank to share her health expertise with the African American community-at-large. She is also a contributor for Huffington Post.[7] Her expertise centers on health equity, preventive medicine, food and fitness, maternal and child health, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and community health.
Maybank created the blog, "On Call in the City", in an effort to make health an accessible topic "wherever one lives, works, plays, and prays”.[4][5] She has a bi-weekly column, Doctor's Orders, on the website of EBONY magazine.[4][6] The column was established for Maybank to share her health expertise with the African American community-at-large. She is also a contributor for Huffington Post.[7]
Maybank was a guest speaker at Kechie's Project and Bread & Roses High School Fashion Showcase in Harlem, NY on June 18, 2013.[8] She spoke on a panel at the ESSENCE Festival Empowerment Experience Panels titled I Beat: Healthy, Journeys & Transformations on July 5, 2013.[9]
In April 2019, she joined the American Medical Association (AMA) as their inaugural chief health equity officer and vice president.[12][13] In that role she co-authored and edited the AMA's guidance document Advancing Health Equity: A Guide to Language, Narrative, and Concepts,[14] which asked "questions about language and commonly used phrases and terms, with the goal of cultivating awareness about dominant narratives and offering equity-based, equity-explicit, and person-first alternatives."
