“It is dangerously unfortunate that the use of masks has been politicized in many parts of our nation. The Dakotas (or North and South COVID as they were recently called on Saturday Night Live) are far from exempt from this phenomenon. Likely, if…
Category: Public Health & Policy
Saving our mothers requires taking more than baby steps
During Black Maternal Health Week, the news that Illinois became the first state to extend Medicaid coverage from the former standard of 60 days postpartum to now 12 months postpartum marks a major victory for women of childbearing age, especially wome…
President Biden’s quest for a public option [PODCAST]
“COVID-19 disproportionately impacts those with pre-existing conditions, and our health care system leaves one in five Americans with a pre-existing condition uninsured. Further, with multiple COVID-19 vaccines already in early but slow distribut…
I was a teenage rifle owner, then an ER doctor
Many who know me might be shocked by this: I shot my first pistol when I was 8 or 9, taught by my father, a physician, aiming at targets in our basement. At summer camp, I loved riflery the way some kids loved art. Staring through the sight, down the b…
Health insurance in this country leaves a lot to be desired
I was an ICU nurse for 17 years, and it was during my last two years of my career when I was diagnosed with lung cancer. Going into and out of the hospital for my chemo sessions. Going into and out of the clinic for my follow-up appointments with my on…
To achieve health equity, we must make culturally relevant care the standard of care
As a physician and businessperson who has dedicated his career to improving health equity, I consider news about vaccines going into arms bittersweet. An uncomfortable question remains: Whose arms are they going into? Data from the U.S. Department of H…
We must address glaring disparities in treatment [PODCAST]
“It is not enough to say we are anti-racist; we have to modify our systems to recognize that we have placed individuals of color at risk of poorer outcomes. Lack of insurance, lack of finances, or even the presence of certain diagnoses may refle…
Asian and Asian-American hate is not new. It has reached a breaking point, and we have had enough.
For many of my patients, I am the first Asian and first Chinese person they have personally interacted with. I am placed in a unique situation at this point in time; being an Asian doctor (and the only Asian) working in a rural clinic in the middle of …
Physicians of color need student loan forgiveness
I urge the president to use executive action to cancel student debt. As president, he can take immediate action on student debt which would be a lifeline for students, parents, and their families. The COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis like we have n…
A physician’s response to anti-Asian racism
“Wait, are you Chinese? I don’t want to get COVID.” First of all, I am Vietnamese, and second, not all Asians look alike. And third, what? Those were the thoughts going through my head while working at the San Carlos Respiratory Clinic in April 2020. I…
