Alumni Spotlight – Amber Robins, MD ‘17

A 2017 graduate of the HH/URMC Family Medicine Residency, Dr. Amber Robins’ work ethic and drive for education is exemplary.  When she graduated residency, she simultaneously graduated with her MBA from LSU Shreveport via a distance learning program.  During her third year of residency, she completed a 1-month rotation in New York City at ABC News where she worked as part of the medical team.  After residency, she obtained a Health and Media fellowship at Georgetown where spent time working with at the PBS NewsHour. 

Dr. Robins has written and published several books, including The Right Write Prescription and The Chronicles of Women in White Coats. The former reflects her spirituality based on obstacles she documented in her journal during her medical training; the latter is a collection of stories from women in medicine. 

 

She was recruited back to Rochester to become Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director for Rochester Regional’s Graduate Medical Education department, as her husband sought Family Medicine training in Batavia. Since joining the Batavia Family Medicine practice as faculty two years ago, she has added being a Lifestyle Medicine Specialist to her repertoire, where she is a consultant for patients interested in weight loss and diabetes management.

In addition to her practice and teaching, she has a “passion project,” Sanxtuary MD, a company she founded “to help women and girls during that special time of the month.”  Dr. Robins has a pending patent on her ’s “period panties,” which includes “tech that keeps any pads of any size in place as well as leak resistant.”  Through her company, her practice, and on social media, she provides educational information and is working to address “period poverty.” Sanxtuary MD is Rochester-based; while she is from Louisiana, she considers the Rochester area a second home. 

When Dr. Robins describes success, she speaks of becoming a first-generation physician through diligence, vigilance and sacrifice. When she speaks, she recognizes that when people see a physician of color, “it speaks volumes without me even speaking.”  She is conscious of what it is like for her community to see her succeed and hopes to be an example of what is “attainable and doable” for minorities and blazing wider paths for them at Xavier University in Louisiana and the University of Rochester.  

 

Embedded in Dr. Robins’ success is her ability to identify opportunities to learn everywhere; she feels compelled to learn, to grow and to aid others. She credits her upbringing and spirituality. Her father is a minister, her mother a college professor. She says what she is doing is not just “an opportunity for me, but my community,” and she is committed to serving as a “voice for people who may be afraid or those that are voiceless,” serving her patients, learners, and broader community.

By Richard Rampello

4/2/2023

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