Dr. Deena Kishawi
Obstetrics and Gynecologist Resident Physician
Deena Kishawi, MD, is a Chicago-born and raised Obstetrician and Gynecologist resident physician.
Dr. Kishawi is currently a third-year resident at Ascension St Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago. Aside from being a resident physician, Dr. Kishawi developed HijabInTheOR.com, a national campaign and initiative to create inclusive environments for Muslim women wearing hijab to work and train in the Operating Room. She’s created educational materials and lectures about Muslim patients, Arab patients, and immigrant and refugee populations. Dr. Kishawi conducts lectures and training sessions for physicians and healthcare workers as well as educational series in Arabic for her patients. She also regularly conducts Grand Rounds about how healthcare workers can take care of Muslim patients.
She is also interested in health outcomes that are unique to Middle Eastern and North Africans residing in the United States. She is currently working on creating a demographic identifier in the U.S. Census for Middle Easterners and North Africans in order to properly represent this unique population and to better provide them with needed resources.
With her fluency in the Arabic language, her ability to resonate with Muslim patients in healthcare, and her work with immigrant, refugee, and first-generation communities in Chicago, Dr. Kishawi is currently conducting research on these vulnerable populations and is working towards training and educating healthcare providers about the unique challenges these population face.
She strives to teach, research, mentor, and learn within her medical community as well as the Chicago community at large. Her research interests include medical education, leadership and gender equity in medicine, religious and cultural competence, and health equity.
Muslim Patients 