Jessica Jones, MD, MSPH and Rebecca Chavez-Houck, MPA

The Science Behind Implicit Bias & Implicit Bias and Patient Outcomes
Presentation Materials
Course Evaluation

Jessica L. Jones, MD, MSPH is a board certified physician in family medicine, currently serving as an associate professor with the Division of Public Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She is also the Associate Chair for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion with the department. Dr. Jones completed medical school at the UCLA School of Medicine and residency training at the University of Utah. She also completed a faculty development fellowship with the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, which included completing a master’s in science in public health degree. This fellowship included completing a Master of Science in Public Health degree. As an Underrepresented Minority in Medicine (URMM) and after 17 years as a physician with the University of Utah Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, she strives to be an outstanding voice and advocate for underrepresented minorities in medicine, encouraging and facilitating equity and inclusion. Dr. Jones has over 10 years of continuity clinic experience and medical student/resident teaching. Currently, as an urgent care provider, she is on the front line of clinical public health, and continues to teach and advise graduate public health, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner students.

Rebecca Chavez-Houck, MPA, represented Salt Lake City’s District 24 from 2008-18 in the Utah House of Representatives, where she focused on policy related to health and human services, as well as voter engagement and access. Her leadership appointments included serving as House Minority Whip (2014-16) and House Minority Assistant Whip (2012-14). Rebecca’s passion for supporting a continuum of patient-centered care, including sponsoring Utah’s End of Life Options Act for four years, shepherding expanded resources for caregivers and adult protective services, and strengthening medical interpreter credentialing, is a result of having served on legislative health and human services committees for nearly a decade. She worked as a public affairs staffer for a number of local Utah nonprofits from 1985 to 2007 and also cultivated a parallel “career” as a board member for a variety of nonprofits, ranging from Planned Parenthood Association of Utah to Intermountain Healthcare. She currently serves on myriad local and national community boards and commissions, including the national Latino Leadership Council for Compassion and Choices, and most recently the Multicultural Advisory Committee of Utah’s COVID-19 Response. Rebecca now provides leadership coaching and community engagement consulting through her public affairs firm, Aspira Public Affairs, LLC.  She is adjunct faculty for the University of Utah’s Master of Public Administration program and holds a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from eCornell. Rebecca and her husband, Martin, have two children and one granddaughter. They enjoy traveling, especially throughout Utah and the Western US, in their Class C motorhome.