During her first year of medical school, India has had a busy, yet fulfilling transition moving from the East Coast to the Bay Area. In this episode, India tells us more about the advocacy pursuits she’s continued in medical school and her new journey of exploring self-love. In particular, we learn more about how her upbringing and sociology background are foundations for her work on harm reduction as essential to the future of medicine, health justice, and healing. You’ll also hear India's reflections on how her Dominican family values are central to her practices of generosity, love, and self-care. At the end of this episode, you’ll hear a poem from her own e-mail subscription called Dulce, which she describes as "an act of resistance that believes in the power of self-infatuation; nourishes the acceptance of what is, what is not, and what could be; and honors womxn of color through prose collected from our own sisterly community."

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Bio:

India Perez-Urbano is a first year medical student at UCSF. India graduated from Harvard University in 2016; after graduation she returned to her hometown of Rockland County, NY to found a harm reduction organization through which she successfully advocated for the first syringe exchange program in the county. She is a passionate advocate for the rights and health of people who use drugs and is excited to continue this work through the purview of medicine and community health.