Varsha Venkatakrishna is a medical student and is affiliated with #GetUsPPE.

Giving language to empathy: lessons from palliative care

Conditions and Diseases
October 21, 2022

The value of empathy in medicine is seldom debated. Just as the art of medicine is taught as the balance of knowledge and application, so has empathy been recognized as both a value to be fostered and a skill to be learned. Medical curricula have reflected this, and while didactics are increasingly filled with various conversational frameworks and behaviors that convey empathy, rarely do they include specific language to convey …

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Giving language to empathy: lessons from palliative care

The concerns and considerations of implementing a universal mask policy

Conditions and Diseases
April 15, 2020

America greatly stands to benefit from a universal face mask policy that mandates face coverings in public. Understandably, adoption of such a policy raises concerns, including:

  • Universal public masking will come with an exaggerated sense of security, loosening people’s social distancing practices.
  • Not everyone will use masks correctly, making their efforts counterproductive.

Part of a national universal mask policy …

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The concerns and considerations of implementing a universal mask policy

The enormous potential of a universal mask policy in America’s response to COVID-19

Conditions and Diseases
April 11, 2020

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and officials largely cautioned Americans against wearing face masks in public. Surgeon General Jerome Adams had tweeted, “Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!” to encourage basic hygiene measures and social distancing instead. The CDC dissuaded healthy people from wearing masks as well, recommending they don facial coverings only when exhibiting symptoms. Even President Obama tweeted, “Save the masks for health care workers.” …

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The enormous potential of a universal mask policy in America’s response to COVID-19