I remember clearly the first lecture in which I began to feel the painful knot of despair clenched in my chest. We were being taught about piebaldism, a disease that impacts the pigment-producing cells of the body. It was not the description of the con…
A black girl was called the N-word on the playground in elementary school in the ’90s. That black girl was me. A black girl was called ugly because of her dark black skin in elementary school in the ’90s. That black girl was me. A black girl created an…
As a resident in the 1970s, I used to receive the AMA weekly newsletter. A squib of a few paragraphs noted that the Alabama Medical Board had issued a reprimand to a surgeon for suturing the hand of a young African-American man, then removing the sutu…
COVID-19 has made the inadequacy of our public health and hospital-based health care system to identify, mitigate, and resolve pandemic disaster self-evident. Gaps in hospital-based preparedness capacity are abundant, including the inadequacy of stockp…
“The donation of hydroxychloroquine, in contrast to the accompanying donation of 1,000 ventilators, is unethical as either humanitarian aid or as a ‘research study.’ The United States has a moral responsibility for any human harm that…
In 2014, an emergency medicine resident opened a personal email and was shocked to see it briefly mention the death of another resident physician from a different training program. Unofficial group chats ensued amongst her co-residents, discussing the …
When we hear or chant, “Black Lives Matter,” what all does this refer to? Is it the gruesome police brutality in the death of George Floyd? Or the murder of Ahmaud Arbery? Absolutely. But what else should it refer to? We know that black liv…
I work as a resident in Australia’s busiest emergency department. Well, it was the busiest at a recent count anyway. The department is housed in the city of Gold Coast. The city sprawls across a beautiful stretch of beach. When I wake up, I turn …
When it comes to health care, this election cycle has been different than previous ones. Either it is Medicare for all or public option in the ACA, democratic candidates have shown support for some version of universal health care. As the health care c…
I have a major issue with MAC. To be more specific, I have a major issue with how we communicate the concept of MAC to our patients, anesthesia care team members, and proceduralist colleagues. MAC stands for “monitored anesthesia care,” and…
