Christy Boraas, MD, MPH

About

  • Pronouns: she/her

  • Occupation and Specialty: Obstetrics and Gynecology, Complex Family Planning

  • Location (Clinic/hospital): M Health Fairview, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Women's Health Specialists Clinic

  • Location (City): Twin Cities Metro

  • Offers Telehealth: Yes

  • Contact Information: https://www.mhealthfairview.org/locations/M-Health-Fairview-Womens-Clinic

  • Bio: Christy Boraas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health and subspecialist in complex family planning. She proudly provides comprehensive reproductive health care.

Approach to care

  • What does it look like for you to provide care to patients in larger bodies? How is, or isn’t, your approach different from how you care for patients in smaller bodies? If you work with children, how is or isn’t your approach different when working with children?

    Really just starting with an acknowledgement of the rampant medical fatphobia and trying to help a patient with a bigger body feel welcome and valued.

  • What is your perspective on how weight is or is not related to health?

    People can have health at any size.

  • Finish this sentence: “Fat people are…” 

    People! Fat folks have long suffered discrimination from the health care system and deserve care providers and systems dedicated to care with dignity, respect and autonomy.

  • How do you, your clinic, and the healthcare system you work in use BMI (i.e BMI cutoffs for accessing certain services, BMI on charts and printouts, etc)? Is this flexible?

    This work is ongoing and evolving.

  • If a patient declines to be weighed, how do you and/or your staff proceed?

    Being weighed in our clinic is always a choice and we would continue with the visit regardless of whether or not a patient wanted to be weighed.

  • If a patient declines to discuss weight loss, nutrition, and/or exercise, how do you proceed?

    I would focus on topics that are important to the patient!

  • What does the physical accessibility of your office space look like? What kinds of accommodations are present for people in larger bodies? Are there things you wish were in place that are currently not? 

    We are set up well to accommodate people of all sizes.

  • What do you do to allow fat people to feel comfortable and welcome in your office? 

    We have tried to make our space and equipment be size and weight-accessible.

  • If you’d like to use this space to talk about any identities (gender, race, size, sexuality, etc.) you hold and how this relates to your care, please do so.