Category: Public Health & Policy

What physicians can learn from anthropologists

Since the passing of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in 2009, it has been said that health tech would dramatically revolutionize health care and the patient experience. Advocates have claimed time and tim…

What physicians can learn from anthropologists

Since the passing of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in 2009, it has been said that health tech would dramatically revolutionize health care and the patient experience. Advocates have claimed time and tim…

Refusing to walk past the old sexist standards in medicine

When I was a third-year medical student in 2006, I was assigned to spend the day at a well-known women’s health clinic in Toronto. I walked into the procedure room and introduced myself to the attending. His first words to me were: “Are you married?” I…

America’s inadequate LGBTQ medical education

As medical students, we are asked to learn in exquisite detail the ins and outs of rare diseases that we may never encounter in clinical practice. Yet the education we receive on caring for a population numbering in the millions is sorely lacking, and …

A student doctor says, “Time’s Up”

According to the NASEM report, half of women medical students experience sexual harassment before they start their careers as physicians. The numbers are even higher for people belonging to minority groups. This harassment is generally overlooked and t…

This residency interview season: Be the rebel

Ours is a chaotic and overburdened medical system. As a senior resident, there is every temptation to seek in our incoming classes more obedient interns and junior residents who would obey my orders as their senior without question. I challenge that we…

A path to universal health coverage in America

Thirteen years ago, as a student in New York City, I marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to implore my colleagues to fight for universal health care. That day, I enunciated what has become my personal mission by saying, “We need universal coverage…

Why is age only a concern regarding surgeons, and not government officials?

Older surgeons are coming under increasing scrutiny as their competence and ability to practice medicine are called into question especially since many continue to work in their 60s and 70s. The New York Times addressed this in a recent article entitle…

The medical profession can help heal divisions as well as diseases

Medicine need not be confined to the role of cultural bellwether, a sheep with a bell on its neck that reveals where the whole flock is headed. Along with other professions such as law, clergy, and education, medicine can and should play the leadership…

Doctors and patients should be wary of health care mega-mergers

Over the past year, multiple mega-mergers were announced in health care. The four largest ones being: 1. On March 18, 2018, Cigna announced that it was acquiring Express Scripts for $68 billion in cash and stocks. The deal was closed on December 20, 20…