Category: Public Health & Policy

How to combat racism in the American medical system

Last month marks one year since the killing of George Floyd, and over that often-tumultuous timespan of public outrage, nationwide street demonstrations, and protest, Americans have been forced to take a critical and introspective look at ourselves as …

The expanding role of specialists in value-based care

Value-based care has become a buzzword over the past decade with early experiments in Massachusetts, followed by creating Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) as part of the Affordable Care Act. As commercial insurers jumped onto this bandwag…

Why it is essential to prioritize universal coverage

A patient of mine (who was also a friend) reached out recently to say the cost of one of his essential medications had increased to a $300 monthly out-of-pocket expense. As an independent musician, he did not get his health care through an employer. Th…

The white guys vs. the janitors: How racial microaggressions lead to poor care outcomes 

Modern-day discrimination still has elements of slavery, segregation, and inaccurate assumptions about people of color. Just last month, a Texas high school principal sent a letter to parents explaining her dismay about a recent racist act where studen…

High COVID-19 vaccination rates do not equate to equity in communities of color

The 500,000 COVID-19 related deaths reflect our nation’s failure to reduce and prevent public health crises. As COVID-19 rampaged across the globe, several research teams raced to develop a vaccine, a technology that humanity has relied on for decades …

Addressing racial disparities in health begins upstream with racial equity in society

This month, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially released an ambitious three-year plan to dismantle structural racism within their organization by addressing past harms and examining institutional roles that uphold these structures. AMA la…

Bridging the political divide [PODCAST]

“Where do we go from here? Conventional wisdom suggests that we can only transform ourselves. This is why I propose that we attempt to recognize the Trump that lies within each of us and to heal him. We are plagued not just by the pandemic but by…

Starting a medical journey away from home

An excerpt from Doctores Con Alas: 12 Historias De Médicos Migrantes. I was 14 years old when I decided I wanted to be a physician. At that time, although my perspective of what it meant to become a medical doctor was not yet as broad nor complex as it…

How can we decrease maternal mortality for Black reproductive-aged people?

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) signed into law by President Biden on March 11 provides direct relief to those impacted by COVID-19. Additionally, it could benefit low-income pregnant and postpartum individuals. The ARPA includes prov…

A football player’s death haunts this physician years later

I was 17 and a senior on the football team. It was the third game of the season. “Speedy” was our star halfback. The place Alabama, the year 1972, and Speedy was Black. Our high school was well integrated for the time because of its proximity to a mili…