About

Dorothy N. Charles, MD, is a board-certified family physician who provides whole-person care for the whole family. She received her bachelor's degree in molecular biology with a minor in neuroscience from Princeton University and her medical degree from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, where she was on the OB/Women's Health track. She continues to practice women's health and non-surgical obstetrics in addition to primary care for adults and children of all ages.

In keeping with her focus on whole-person care, Dorothy understands that individual health is shaped by societal forces, including the constraints imposed by racial capitalism. During medical school, she spent time outside of the classroom and the hospital trying to create institutional change. She co-founded the medical student activist organization White Coats for Black Lives, advocated for single-payer health care as a former member of the Political Advocacy Committee of Students for a National Health Program, and fought for hospitalized patients’ right to vote by co-founding Presby Votes (now known as Penn Med Votes). She continues to educate others about racism in medicine and the effects of structural oppression on health and has presented on these topics at conferences, led teach-ins, and written for both popular and academic publications.