Hyeyoung Oh Nelson

Hyeyoung Oh Nelson
Director of Undergraduate Studies in Public Health • Assistant Professor
Health and Behavioral Sciences
hyeyoung.nelson@ucdenver.edu

Office location:
North Classroom 3031

Office hours:
Thursdays 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. 

Dr. Nelson is a medical sociologist and qualitative methodologist. Her research interests include maternal health, patient-doctor interactions, medical professions and healthcare organizations. She is the author of Conflicted Care: Doctors Navigating Patient Welfare, Finances and Legal Risk (2022). Her work has been published in various outlets including Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science and Medicine, and Sociology of Health and Illness

Ph.D., Sociology, University of California–Los Angeles, 2014
M.A., Sociology, University of California–Los Angeles, 2009
B.A., Sociology, Princeton University, 2005

Nelson, H.O., Lange, A., Kibet, M. and Shah, M.K. 2026. "Saving Maternal Health: The Racialized Labor and Burnout of Birthworkers of Color in the United States." Journal of Health and Social Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1177/002214652514062

Nelson, H.O., Lange, A., Shah, M.K.,  and Kibet, M. 2025. “Structural Inequities, Persisting Disparities and Provider Burnout in Maternal Health.” Social Science and Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118010.

Nelson, H.O. 2024. “Experiencing Birth Trauma: Individualism and Isolation in Postpartum.” Social Science and Medicine, 345:116663

Spencer, K. L. and Nelson, H.O. 2024. “The Importance of Qualitative Methods for Understanding Racialized Injustice and Health.” Sociology Compass, https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13261.

Nelson, H. O. 2022. Conflicted Care: Doctors Navigating Patient Welfare, Finances and Legal Risk. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

Nelson, H. O. and Spencer, K.L. 2021. "Sociological Contributions to Race and Health: Diversifying the Ontological and Methodological Agenda." Sociology of Health and Illness, Special Issue on Ethnicity.

PBHL 2001: Introduction to Public Health

PBHL 3030: Health Policy

PBHL 3100: Disparities in US Maternal Health

PBHL 4099: Capstone

HBSC 7051: Qualitative Research Design and Methods