You don’t know who I am yet, but you will in the future. I haven’t decided yet if I will run for the House, Senate, or the U.S. Congress. If you are a health care professional, whether it be a doctor able to change medicine, nurses, respira…
Category: Public Health & Policy
Medical debt is the enemy of everyone
An excerpt from End Medical Debt: Curing America’s $1 Trillion Unpayable Healthcare Debt. Medical debt is the mortal enemy of the patient, the physician, the hospital, the community, the state, and the nation. When we think of others’ debts, we tend to…
To “fix” health care delivery, turn to a value-based health care system
With over two-thirds of the public believing that health care should be a top policy priority, there is no debating the importance of “fixing” our health care delivery system. On one extreme of the aisle, there is a growing chorus in support for “Medic…
HIV/AIDS vaccine underscores need for better health access
“HIV has been a blessing in my life.” Lola was a 48-year-old woman living in Denver when I interviewed her in 2002 about her HIV-positive diagnosis. She said the diagnosis improved her life in important ways; she had received income and hou…
Women are still being “burned at the stake” in medicine
Are you a woman, and your sanity has been questioned? Congratulations: You are now an activist. There is such a thing as implicit bias in which we may not be aware of how our subconscious thoughts are affecting our conscious thoughts, opinions, or acti…
The needs of Afghan refugee children must be prioritized in evacuation and resettlement plans
I smiled as the Afghan family of six approached my triage station in the Philadelphia airport. The three young boys were laughing, playful, and full of energy despite the long journey. The oldest, who looked about 10 years old, sat on a chair and immed…
The Black feminist revolution medicine needs
Black feminism describes that Black women are inherently valuable and the specific liberation of Black women is necessary in its own right. It parses out these political identities and desires to have true humanity for Black women—arguing that it is i…
Humane health care outcomes by creating therapeutic alliances [PODCAST]
“In fully-humanized health care, I envision patients as clients, with doctors as part of the health care team in a role more akin to expert consultants and skilled proceduralists. The consumer is empowered in the network to drive his or her own h…
The necessity for the globalization of surgery and its barriers
For years, the surgical practice has been an essential medicine to treat many diseases, such as benign lesions or neoplasms, deliveries, cesarean sections, infections, obstructions, bleeds, and cardiovascular diseases. In many cases, the standard of ca…
When it comes to bias, doctors need to do their homework [PODCAST]
“I have no doubt, given my extensive experience in health care and being a Black woman in America, that we as health care professionals have made the same mistakes as Chris Harrison with our patients. Instead of listening to and validating our pa…
