Health policy and public health

4,357 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 49

What this doctor learned from cartooning other peoples’ stories

November 27, 2020Nov 27, 2020

After three months as a newly minted doctor, I knew that any plan that I made for my first vacation week would be futile in the context of COVID-19, so I attempted an escape into the headspace of others. During…

“I’m on my vacation week w/ nothing to do, so I want to

…

Physician voices

The doctor will sneeze you now

November 22, 2020Nov 22, 20202

A year ago, it would have seemed absurd for a medical resident to call out sick with nothing more than a cough and congestion. It’s different now. The calculus of cold symptoms has changed. When one of us recently woke…

A year ago, it would have seemed absurd for a medical resident to call out sick with nothing more than a cough and congestion.

It’s different now. The calculus of cold symptoms has changed.

When one of us recently woke with a sniffle, she wondered if she should stay home. She logged into her computer and saw that ten patients expected to see her in clinic that day, including several who had …

Read more…

The doctor will sneeze you now

Health policy

Forgetting mental health is a miss for the Biden COVID-19 task force

Jennifer Piel, MD, JD

November 20, 2020Nov 20, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden revealed on November 9, 2020, the members of his COVID-19 task force. His swift announcement of the task force clarifies that addressing the health and economic problems related to COVID-19 is his immediate priority. The president-elect has…

The president-elect has assembled an advisory team of medical experts. The team, which includes an impressive list of scientists, physicians, and public health leaders, is absent a vital voice: the mental health professional.

Although some …

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The Podcast by KevinMD

Declaring racism as a public health crisis from the lens of two Latinx student doctors [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

November 19, 2020Nov 19, 2020

"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 in many…

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“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 in many aspects of society and have felt the need to change our institutional culture. If we act now, we will foster physician …

Health policy

The cost of avoiding cost: a medical student’s perspective

Palak Patel

November 19, 2020Nov 19, 2020

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,…

On the train out of the city, I watched my reflection melt in and out of the glass: I was a person …

Physician voices

What Kamala Harris means for women doctors

Archana Reddy Shrestha, MD

November 15, 2020Nov 15, 20207

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…

It is truly a historic moment for all American women and makes the possibility of a woman as president of the United States one …

Health policy

A call for more handicap accessible options for homeless patients in Rhode Island

Cara Zimmerman, MD

November 14, 2020Nov 14, 2020

“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…

“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 street homeless for many years, his primary residence being a dangerous park. He was often attacked, robbed, or pushed out of his wheelchair onto his face, …

Health policy

People own firearms. Clinicians have a unique opportunity to help them do it safely.

Pablo Cuartas

November 11, 2020Nov 11, 20202

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 railroad tracks, and explored the surrounding woods. My friend’s grandfather worked late, so we had the house to ourselves. Eventually, we went into the house …

Health policy

Take the time to thank a veteran and to reflect upon the sacrifices they made for you

Andy Lamb, MD

November 10, 2020Nov 10, 20202

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 furniture. I know how it feels to lay on that cot, in the darkness, missing your family so badly it physically …

Health policy

The many firsts of the 2020 election

Anjani Amladi, MD

November 10, 2020Nov 10, 2020

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…

Kamala Harris has made history as the first female vice president-elect of the United States and will also …

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The many firsts of the 2020 election

Health policy

Joe Biden won. What does that mean for health care?

Robert Laszewski

November 10, 2020Nov 10, 2020

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 Georgia run-off Senate races, the Republicans will maintain control, and the Democrats will not have the votes to move any partisan health care legislation.

But the Democrats will control the …

Health policy

The medical community harms patients when they fail to engage in political advocacy

Michael Kitchin

November 8, 2020Nov 8, 2020

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 medical community harm patients when we fail to engage in political advocacy.

Why should physicians care?

Health care accounts for …

Health policy

Should drug use be decriminalized?

Katya Korol & Sarah Fraser, MD

November 7, 2020Nov 7, 2020

During the final presidential debate, Joe Biden said that “no one should be going to jail for a drug problem, they should be going to rehabilitation,” effectively suggesting that substance use be decriminalized in the US. The war on drugs…

The war on drugs

Since President Nixon declared the “war on drugs” nearly half a century ago, the general global response to drug use has been focused on enforcement. Zero tolerance. Since the Nixon years, drug-related …

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Should drug use be decriminalized?

The Podcast by KevinMD

Examining the duty of physician officials in the government [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

November 5, 2020Nov 5, 2020

"The duty of physician officials in the government exceeds that of other officials. As physicians, they have a unique moral obligation to do more than protect the constitution from enemies, foreign and domestic. They have a duty to be unambiguously…

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“The duty of physician officials in the government exceeds that of other officials. As physicians, they have a unique moral obligation to do more than protect the constitution from enemies, foreign and domestic. They have a duty to be unambiguously truthful, to use their power to do good, and to avoid harm. If they fail in any of those regards, they …

The Podcast by KevinMD

COVID-19 amplifies health disparities [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

November 3, 2020Nov 3, 2020

"The daily email update on COVID-19 affecting our hospital system is a glaring reflection of the health disparities amongst those in marginalized groups. The farther south you go, generally in San Diego, the higher the number of socioeconomically disadvantaged persons,…

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“The daily email update on COVID-19 affecting our hospital system is a glaring reflection of the health disparities amongst those in marginalized groups. The farther south you go, generally in San Diego, the higher the number of socioeconomically disadvantaged persons, and that tends to include a disproportionate number of persons of color. These populations may be unable to physically distance due …

Health policy

Recognize the Trump that lies within each of us and try to heal him

Beck Ballentine, MD

November 3, 2020Nov 3, 202017

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
– Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956

I am a resident physician in a small community hospital in …

Patient voices

May we all find the peace we search for

Michele Luckenbaugh

November 2, 2020Nov 2, 2020

It has been a year of change and constants. Shortly after a new year was ushered in, we heard of a virus that was sweeping across China and Europe. We saw the devastation that this virus brought to humanity, people gasping for air in ICUs, no known or reliable means of treatment, lack of medical supplies, and healthcare professionals giving up their lives to save others. And then COVID landed …

Read more…

May we all find the peace we search for

Health policy

I will not stand here and mourn a world that could have been

Marie DeLuca, MD

November 2, 2020Nov 2, 2020

When it has already happened, it feels inevitable. A girl appearing late one night, quiet from trauma, the crossed arms and loud voices of police breaking the relative calm of the early morning ER. After the shift, ordering breakfast at the deli counter, a man showing me a newspaper with a grainy photo of a man struggling to breathe against a cop’s knee – we both stare and shake our …

Physician voices

Election anxiety? Here’s a guide to practicing medicine in Canada.

Ashwini Bapat, MD & Emeric F. Bojarski, MD & Kayla Wolofsky, MD

November 1, 2020Nov 1, 2020

Oh, Canada! Every presidential election cycle, my colleagues joke that if the election result is not to their liking, they will move to Canada. On election night 2016, “move to Canada” trended on Google, and the Canadian immigration website crashed. This election cycle America is having an existential crisis. What does America stand for? Who is American? What are American values? This time around, my colleagues …

Health policy

Interstate licensure for telehealth can fuel medical practice growth

Chad Anguilm, MBA & David L. Feldman, MD, MBA & Remi Stone, JD

October 31, 2020Oct 31, 2020

When it comes to using telehealth to treat patients out of state, most physicians are mindful about licensure issues. But some are not aware that if you don’t have a license to practice medicine in a given state, it isn’t…

Licensing restrictions have been eased to facilitate care during the pandemic, and the new normal of greater state-to-state cooperation for access to care may persist …

Health policy and public health

Articles, page 49

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