Medicine and Society
Context, Connections, and Community
The discovery of a highly efficacious option for preexposure prophylaxis that requires only twice-yearly administration has led to the question of whether a vaccine is still needed to end the HIV epidemic.
As the fossil-fuel industry continues to obstruct efforts to curtail pollution from its products, the health community should use strategies that have been effective in fighting other health-harming industries.
Haunted
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Medicine may be grounded in science, but it deals in matters of health and illness, connection and isolation, and life and death that have an intrinsic spiritual aspect. So it’s somehow not surprising that physicians and patients are subject to hauntings of various kinds. The ghosts and spirits that float through these Perspective essays carry messages that bear examination.
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Familiar Shadows
October 28, 2023 | S. Glass
For a specialist in pediatric intensive care, moments of suffering and tragedy may be temporarily suppressed, but memories of her patients often visit her unannounced.
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Swimming
September 23, 2023 | M. Isaac
Two decades ago, unable to swim, a palliative care physician was saved from a muscular riptide by a lifeguard. The sensation of drowning comes back to haunt her during the catastrophic time of the pandemic.
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The Phantom of the Organ
June 27, 2024 | J. Guzzi
When the recipient of a deceased-donor liver transplant awakens after surgery, he sees a ghostly but kindly figure in his room, and her description matches that of the organ donor.
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Ellipsis
June 22, 2023 | S. Porter
Physicians used to call pages back to be greeted by a faceless voice. Now, they may more frequently receive electronic messages from a voiceless face.
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Learning to Say Goodbye
May 16, 2024 | J.A. Feinstein
A pediatrician caring for patients with a rare and life-limiting disease learns from his mentor the benefits of acknowledging that his story and his patients’ stories are inextricably intertwined.
- A pediatric oncologist’s outlook and practice are transformed when a 10-year-old cricket fanatic with acute lymphoblastic leukemia touches her heart.
- Research generally suggests that routine surveillance after cancer treatment finds more recurrences — leading to more surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation — without affecting the risk of death.
- Despite greater recognition of the harms of alcohol use, U.S. alcohol taxes are at all-time lows. A reexamination may help inform national debates about revenue generation, spending cuts, and public health.
- The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment benefit supports access to various services for Medicaid-covered children. But few clinicians are aware of the extent of its coverage guarantees.
- The discovery of a highly efficacious option for preexposure prophylaxis that requires only twice-yearly administration has led to the question of whether a vaccine is still needed to end the HIV epidemic.
- As the fossil-fuel industry continues to obstruct efforts to curtail pollution from its products, the health community should use strategies that have been effective in fighting other health-harming industries.
- During the American Revolution, more than in any subsequent U.S. war, doctors played critical roles beyond their medical functions. A key leader at the outset of the war was Dr. Joseph Warren.
- Severing the long-standing ties and scientific collaborations between the United States and the WHO and slashing U.S. financial support will have catastrophic effects on both domestic and global health.
- In January, the FDA proposed substantially limiting the level of nicotine permitted in cigarettes. The proposal is expected to face strong industry opposition during a time of political uncertainty.
- Over the past two decades, the health care spending growth rate in the United States has declined. But reducing the emphasis on value-based care could lead to a resurgence in spending growth.
- The dismantling of foreign-assistance efforts has already had, and will continue to have, severe effects on vulnerable populations globally. But it also has implications for people in the United States.
- The U.S. shortage of primary care physicians disproportionately affects underserved communities, and the inequities are compounded by the racial and linguistic diversity gaps between patients and doctors.
- Affirm: The Rush Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Reproductive Health aims to improve access to culturally competent, relevant health care for the LGBTQ+ community throughout the Chicago metropolitan area.
- Recognizing that financially strapped students find their residency choices constrained by cost-of-living considerations, Mass General Brigham began supplementing the salaries of residents in need.
- When an insurer repeatedly denies coverage of cochlear implant surgery for an infant with profound sensorineural hearing loss, his physician struggles with the ramifications of breaking a sacred promise.
- As climate change exacerbates existing health disparities, a new curriculum arms residents to provide climate-informed patient care, advance climate advocacy, and improve health system sustainability.
- The medical school application process has spiraled out of control, placing a huge and counterproductive burden on young aspiring physicians. What can be done to scale things down while improving the results?
- Most U.S. medical school applicants now log many hours shadowing physicians to boost their chances of admission, but these experiences may not be beneficial, they have costs, and access to them is inequitable.
- Residency applicants have long been advised to play it safe in their personal statement, but what if the best way to rise above the heap is to share a part of yourself you’ve been told to keep hidden?
- The primary mission of medical schools is to train physicians who will provide excellent patient care. Pass/fail grading systems, in their current form, could threaten that goal.
