Blog by Kasey Johnson Students from widening access (WA) backgrounds, contribute unique strengths to medicine and are an investment in the most vulnerable communities, yet recruiting and retaining WA students continue to be a challenge for most medical schools. Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) data shows that only 5% of medical school matriculants are […]
Category: Blog
To Better Understand Vaccine Hesitancy, Take the Long View
Blog by Allison Coffelt I’m sitting by my aunt, who drove two hours after work to see me while I’m in town. She comes straight from the office, and Saturday she’ll get up early to bale hay. At family dinner I ask, assuming yes: she’s vaccinated? Her laugh drops. “I decided not to.” The table […]
A Call to End Violence Against Healthcare Professionals in Myanmar
Blog by Kaung Suu Lwin, Khin Thet Swe, Phyu Phyu Thin Zaw, Stuart Gilmour and Shuhei Nomura Escalating catastrophic human rights violations by Myanmar military is threatening health and human security of Myanmar people. Myanmar’s healthcare system is overwhelmed due to violence against healthcare professionals following the military coup. We are issuing a call to […]
Storytelling Ethics
Blog by Lillian Wieland Medical school interviews loom ahead, making applicants scramble to prepare. We’ll go to our advisors, asking “What will give me an edge?” In return, we might hear the common advice to write down all of our patient interaction stories and craft a narrative on how those experiences impacted us as future […]
Reflections on PRIDE 2021: Intersectional Identities
Blog by Henry Ng, MD, MPH (he/they) Millions of people celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride month every June in the United States and around the world. As we emerge from the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic and begin to congregate and celebrate our lives and selves, our jubilance is tempered by sobering statistics from the pandemic on […]
Nature, Film, and Positive Change
Blog by Jayaraj Jayaraj, award-wining film maker, reflects on ‘Birds Club International’ an Environment Project on the World Day to combat Desertification and Drought, 17th June 2021. Birds Club International (BCI) aims to revive nature by not just planting trees, but by cooperating with various individuals and organisations in our society to highlight the […]
Depersonalization of Suffering Amidst COVID-19 Second Wave in India
Blog by Swati Satish Joshi The understanding of the suffering of patients infected with corona virus, especially during the second wave in India, transformed from being subjective to objective, personal to data-centric, and general to individual. While media was engrossed in covering stories of blame (critiquing liberties sanctioned by government, for instance, gatherings of thousands […]
The Cornell-Penn Interview for Decisional Abilities: A Tool to Assess the Decisional Ability of Older Adult Victims of Abuse or Neglect
Blog by Robert C. Abrams, Pamela Ansell and Veronica Lo Faso Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY USA As global attention is directed to the mistreatment of older adults on June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, it is timely to consider how victims of abuse and neglect make […]
Waiting Rooms, Art, and Equity
Blog by Alice Wang BS, Sidharth Chand BA, Hyewon Hyun MD, Megan Carleton ATR-BC, Daniel B Chonde MD-PhD Introduction Marginalized communities, especially communities of color frequently feel isolated and excluded from the healthcare system. A clear history of neglect, mistreatment, and experimentation has engendered mistrust of health providers and medical institutions. As entrenched […]
Tracing the Trajectory of the Bullet: Physicians’ Response to Gun Violence
Blog by Michaele Francesco Corbisiero, Violette Simon and Carlos Franco-Paredes On April 28, 1996, a gunman in Australia killed 35 people at a tourist site in Tasmania. Only 12 days later, Prime Minister Howard announced major reforms on Australian firearm laws.1 The government bought back 650,000 guns and the remaining civilian firearms were registered to […]