“Antiracism requires action-oriented work and calls us to ask, how will we work to become antiracist? How will we change our institutional culture and systems to become antiracist? As Latina medical students, we have seen and experienced racism i…
Category: Public Health & Policy
The cost of avoiding cost: a medical student’s perspective
My first meeting with a therapist was a success: she specialized in type-A personalities, was transparent about her eclectic approach, and her office – on the bottom floor of a converted San Francisco townhouse – felt somewhere still and safe, a purple…
What Kamala Harris means for women doctors
No matter which presidential candidate you voted for or which political party you belong to, we women should stand together unified and proud in knowing that for the first time, a woman is going to Washington, DC, to serve as the vice president of our …
A call for more handicap accessible options for homeless patients in Rhode Island
“I’ve been left out here to die ever since my legs were cut off,” he said joylessly. He was a gruff, elderly man, sharp as a tack, bundled in tattered blankets. His below-knee amputations were tucked away in his cramped wheelchair. This man had been st…
What presidential elections can teach us about losing gracefully
For the winner of any election, the moment of victory brings joy, applause, laughter, relief, and often champagne. Losing the presidency, however, is felt like a crushing defeat. The hours of travel, giving speeches, campaigning, fundraising, stress, a…
People own firearms. Clinicians have a unique opportunity to help them do it safely.
When I was twelve years old, I was at a friend’s house with a couple of classmates. The four of us were roaming the rural property, which belonged to my friend’s grandfather. We climbed through cars in an abandoned junkyard, tested our balance on some …
Take the time to thank a veteran and to reflect upon the sacrifices they made for you
I am a veteran. My father and all three of my brothers are veterans. I have been to war, separated from my family, with the danger real, living in the desert, in a tent with the sand blowing through the walls, sleeping on a cot with cardboard boxes for…
The many firsts of the 2020 election
There is something special about being a “first.” First to go to college; first to start a business; first write a book, etc. Becoming the first person to achieve something is remarkable because it sets a precedent for what is possible. What once seeme…
Joe Biden won. What does that mean for health care?
Presuming the North Carolina and Alaska Senate seats remain in Republican hands, the Senate will come out no better for Democrats than a 50-50 tie with Vice President-elect Harris being the tiebreaker. If Republicans win at least one of the two Georgi…
The medical community harms patients when they fail to engage in political advocacy
Primum non nocere, or “first, do no harm,” is a fundamental principle in the practice of medicine. Physicians vow to do as much when taking the Hippocratic Oath on their first day of medical school. But where does the buck stop? I posit that we in the…
