Category: Public Health & Policy

The pandemic exposes critical gaps in Canada’s health workforce planning

Health workers in Canada experience endemic levels of burnout directly related to understaffing and work overload. Leaves of absence from work for mental health and stress-related issues are 1.5 times higher among health workers than the rest of the po…

How do we talk about race, racism, and white supremacy without screaming at each other?

In the recent impeachment trial, many Americans, alongside U.S. Representatives and Senators, are reliving the Capitol riot’s chaos and confusion. For us, that infamous day showcased a unifying emotion: anger. We can see the anger in the aggressi…

Children cannot afford to wait: We need to all work together to help schools reopen

I hesitated to write this because I am just a pediatric neurologist and epileptologist.  Plus, I didn’t have any time until I dropped my kids off at school. Yes, you read that correctly.  I just dropped my kindergartener and third-grader off at s…

Why teachers aren’t going back to school: a physician’s take

All across the United States, elementary and secondary school teachers are refusing to go back to school. Before you join the growing lynch mob that’s going after these teachers, you may want to consider why they’re staying home. For starters, many sch…

With poverty rates now highest in 50 years, America needs a poverty czar 

According to a newly released study, by the end of 2020, the United States experienced its sharpest rise in poverty rates in 50 years, leaving eight million more people nationwide in a state of poverty.  As we usher in a new Congressional session, perh…

The rural health care crisis and medical education

Decades of job loss, the opioid crisis, and the current pandemic have all shaken the already tenuous health care system of rural America. This is happening in the wealthiest nation on Earth, with a GDP of over 20 trillion dollars. Why is this happening…

Voting and vaccination are 2 sides of the same coin

In the past year, the United States has faced compounding challenges as it struggled to control the COVID-19 pandemic and grappled with significant civil unrest. The American pandemic response has been primarily determined by the guidance—or lack there…

Why health care fails to deliver better value in patient care 

There is a strong push for health care to move towards greater value-based care (VBC) arrangements. The prospect of VBC holds the opportunity to re-create partnerships designed to increase health care sustainability by strategically improving processes…

Stop the us vs. them mentality in medicine

As a foreign medical graduate and a multiple-time career changer — from being a doctor to a hospital process improvement and leadership coach to a business professor to a transformational career coach for female physicians — I have closely …

Why the preservation of the Affordable Care Act should matter to you [PODCAST]

“Is the ACA perfect? Not by a long shot. In Kentucky, where I live, there are only 2 insurers selling individual policies on the exchange. A Silver plan for my husband and myself costs $1,800 per month in premiums, with a $13,600 deductible and a…