It is exciting to see so many American medical students join the protracted struggle for racial justice. Some students are involved in efforts within their institutions to affect change–both curricular and extracurricular. Others are working beyo…
Category: Policy
For change to happen, humbly look at ourselves
While waiting for his mother to schedule his next well-child appointment, a young boy sat in our clinic lobby engrossed in his new Reach Out and Read book. He and his family were new to our area, having just moved from Syria a few short months before t…
We are in the midst of a crisis in humanity
We are in the midst of a crisis in humanity. While we are still dealing with COVID pandemic and its deleterious health, economic and societal consequences, our troubling past of racism and inequality is rearing its ugly head. The senseless killings at …
How COVID is exposing poor working conditions in the U.S.
It has been about three weeks since I’ve had my favorite tortilla. The plant that makes them, located on the lower west side of Chicago, closed after one of its workers died of COVID-19. Unlike workers in the meat-packing industry, the employees …
How Drones Are Helping India Fight The Coronavirus Pandemic
Demand for drones has soared as civic authorities, state governments and the police sought out these flying machines to help them manage the pandemic in a myriad of ways.
Humana: ‘Unhealthy Days’ For Medicare Population Fall As Social Determinants Screened
A project by Humana to improve the health of seniors in private Medicare Advantage plans through better management of patient populations continues to show improvement, the health insurer said in a report out Thursday.
Systemic Racism Makes Covid-19 Much More Deadly For African-Americans
A long and well-documented history of systematic discrimination against Black people regularly leads to worse underlying health conditions for African-Americans that make it more likely they become severely ill during this pandemic and die from the dis…
Ohio Lawmaker Implies That Hygiene May Be Reason Black Americans Have Higher Covid-19 Rates, Here Is The Backlash
Here is what Ohio state Senator Stephen Huffman (R) asked during a hearing about a bill that would declare racism a public health crisis in Ohio.
How NEJM’s ethical recommendations on the fair allocation of scarce medical resources perpetuate inequity
This past March, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published six ethical recommendations to guide the allocation of scarce medical resources during COVID-19. In their second recommendation, they stated that “critical COVID-19 interventions — t…
I can’t breathe: an anesthesiologist’s perspective
I can’t breathe. These words cut to the core of all humans, and shock anesthesiologists. We are trained to continuously listen to and think about breathing. We coach our patients: Take a deep breath! Yes! And another one! We watch our patients’ chests …
