Ruby Yoakim | The Institute

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Ruby Yoakim, MD, MPH

Resident Physician

Languages spoken

Spanish, Arabic

Education and training

Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Medical school - University of California, Irvine (UCI)
Bachelor of Science, Biology - University of California, Irvine (UCI)

Professional certifications or affiliations

Arnold P. Gold Humanism Honor Society

Professional interests

LGBTQIA+ health care
Gender affirming care
Community medicine
HIV prevention and management
Health policy

A little about me

My name is Ruby Yoakim and I’m from sunny southern California, where I’ve spent most of my life and done my educational training. I’m very excited to expand my horizons with this opportunity and learn more about the communities in New York City. I am fluent in Spanish and working on getting my Arabic up to par with my Spanish fluency.

Why I love my job

My passion to serve minoritized communities comes from the experiences of my parents navigating the complex healthcare system as immigrants. My mother is from El Salvador, and my father is from Israel, and finding physicians who look like them, have similar life experiences as them, and ultimately speak their language has always been difficult. For me to become a primary care physician and fill those gaps in care for others will always be something I love about what I do.

Locations

The Institute for Family Health at 17th Street

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Professional experience & accomplishments

Dr. Ruby Yoakim completed his undergraduate and medical degrees through the University of California at Irvine. He was part of the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC) where he fostered his interest in providing culturally competent medical care for Spanish-speaking communities in Southern California. He sought to broaden his medical knowledge with a Master of Public Health in Healthy Policy and Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. While completing his graduate degree, his field experience involved a quality improvement project delivering on-site HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at AltaMed, a system of federally qualified health centers serving predominately black and brown communities of East Los Angeles.

As a family physician, Dr. Yoakim is passionate about LGBTQIA+ healthcare, gender-affirming care, HIV prevention, and providing care for underserved communities.