I am an obstetrician and gynecologist. I love being a doctor for women, as it allows me to combine my interests in science and health with my passion for helping people and decreasing health disparities. I’m also a teacher and medicine is a place where I educate future doctors, as well as my patients, about their health and their bodies. As a mother of three, I understand the balance women are trying to maintain in today’s world. I work hard to be a real person.

Interests:
When I am not seeing patients, delivering babies, or teaching medical students, I spend most of my time enjoying my family. If the weather is good, I can also be found digging in the dirt. I am a gardener and I love flowers and growing tomatoes in my city garden. I live in an urban area just outside Boston, but I am lucky to have a small yard. I had dirt brought in for raised beds, so things grow beautifully from clean soil. I love watching basketball and baseball, and I’m a Boston Red Sox and Celtics fan.

Activities:
I love to fish, and in the summer I can usually be found in the early morning trying to catch the stripers along the coast of Maine.

Favorite Books:
I read every night, usually fiction. I can’t fall asleep without reading first. I love mystery novels and try to read-higher level fiction, but I usually end up back with my bestsellers.

Favorite Movies:
I love movies, especially thrillers, but I almost never get to the movie theater. I subscribe to online movies and have a great set up in my basement, where I watch movies on my laptop with earphones while I run on the treadmill or weight train. I try to exercise every morning for 30 minutes before I start my day.

Favorite TV Show:
My claim to fame is that we don’t have a TV in our house. We do have lots of computers and I have to admit that I buy the season of Grey’s Anatomy every year. I watch this while I run on my treadmill.

Favorite Quotes:
“If women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long?” --Gloria Steinem

"We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." --Martin Luther King Jr.

professional background

Hope Ricciotti, M.D., is an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and practices obstetrics and gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She is a contributor to many magazines and is co-author of several cookbooks and women's health textbooks. Dr. Ricciotti oversees medical students and residency education in obstetrics, gynecology, and women's health at Harvard Medical School. Her other research projects include evaluating innovative methods of medical education using virtual patients, and simulation for training medical students and residents.

Dr. Ricciotti and her husband, a chef, have helped to implement an innovative whole foods lunch program and nutrition curriculum in order to improve the quality of lunches and education in healthy eating for children. Her special interests include providing obstetrical care, contraception, cervical cancer prevention, and well-woman care for all phases of the lifecycle. In addition, she has special expertise in reproductive health, nutrition, and management of menopause.

Degrees:

M.D., Dartmouth Medical School
B.A., Brown University

Associations:

• Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School
• Vice Chair Medical Education, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
• OBGYN Clerkship Committee Director, Harvard Medical School
• Program Director, Residency Program, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Clinical Director, OBGYN Department, Dimock Center, Roxbury, MA
• Harvard Medical School Women's Health Theme Director

Awards:

• Face to Watch, Boston's Chronicle TV magazine
• Best of Boston, Boston magazine

Appearances:

• The Today Show
• Good Morning America
• The Food Network
• Lifetime Live

Publications:

• Co-Author, I'm Pregnant: Now What Do I Eat?
• Co-Author, The Pregnancy Cookbook, The Menopause Cookbook, Breast Cancer Prevention Cookbook, The Healthy Family Cookbook
• Chair, Medical Advisory Panel, You and Your Family magazine
• Contributor, Glamour, Fit Pregnancy, Pregnancy, and Prevention