Meet Dr Alisha Trent-Williams | FP/OB physician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr Alisha Trent-Williams and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr Alisha, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
Im a physician, and one thing that others might not be aware of is the large deficit of Black Women that exists in the medical field. This deficit includes positions from nurses, to physicians, to administration. I do my very best to encourage others to pursue medicine to help fill these gaps, but we have a long way to go. Black women only make up 2% of practicing physicians in the united states. There are equally low numbers of black women in healthcare administration. Of course this wide disparity ultimately also mimics the the poorer outcomes that black women are more likely to experience in today’s health care. Im doing my very best to try to bring awareness and address these gaps while also doing my due diligence to provide excellent patient care.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I dont believe anything in life is easy. As i mentioned in my shout out, my road to becoming a physician was very challenging. At the beginning of medical school, i was a newly divorced mom with 2 young sons. I also commuted to school daily. i definitely had extra stress during my studies in addition to the obvious rigors of med school. This also carried forward through to residency. I think i also experienced added challenges being a black woman. As i mentioned, we are rare in medicine, and i definitely have faced biased professors and patients. each experience that i have faced has taught me and molded me into the physician i am today. now, i have patients that are specifically seeking me out because of my reputation in the community. That makes me feel good, and it also confirms to me that these challenges that i continue to face are worth it and making a difference to someone. This year, i want to do even more. I have plans to further my knowledge in the administrative side in order to open more doors in that forum. I also want to do more with blending my business of medicine with my passion of fashion. This year, it is also my goal to finally get my fashion blog up and running. I have definitely not achieved everything that i want to!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my bestie was visiting, i would definitely take her to get some awesome food. We would have to brunch at mirabella’s here in northwest arkansas. It is definitely one of my weekend hang outs. I would also probably suggest the spa at spa botanica. I frequent there quite often to partake in their services. I would also take her to my favorite nail salon rouge salon to relax and get a good mani/pedi. We could finish one evening at my favorite dine in theater skylight in downtown bentonville. During her visit we would also have to visit the momentary. You cant come to northwest arkansas and not visit!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I definitely owe so much recognition to my mother angie trent. during my studies in medical school, it was very common for her to help with my children. If she thought i was going to have a late night of studying, she would suggest they ride the bus after school to her house to help me out. She even moved them back to arkansas to live with her while i was in the final year of my residency training in michigan. she saw the tremendous stress i was under, and she wanted to do whatever she could to help me. I also credit and shout out my sister myeisha. my first year of residency, she took time away from her studies and relocated 14 hours from home to help me with my kids as well.
being a single parent in medical school and residency was beyond difficult. i would not have made it without those ladies. i could never repay them.

Instagram: DivaDrTrent

Image Credits
myeisha trent