Medical

The results of a 2019 research article in the journal Science uncovered significant racial bias in commonly used population health algorithms used to identify and assign care to patients with complex, active health needs. Using a large clinical data set, the researchers showed that Black patients are considerably sicker than white patients at any given…

“Recently, a fellow physician mom ended her life. While outwardly, a very vibrant, lively, and happy woman, she fought her own internal demons for some time. From what we know, she struggled with depression but was still committed to being a good mom, physician, and wife. Sadly, a few days before her birthday, she could…

Ooh child Things are gonna get easier. Ooh child Things’ll get brighter. I sing these words to my one-year-old son quite often; I believe them. I’ll never lose hope. Hospitalizations hit greater than 90,000 yesterday, and the trajectory is frightening. This is not a political issue; it’s bigger than any one individual’s opinion. People will…

Sometimes I forget. I forget what it is like to be on the other side of the curtain. I forget that what is just another day of work, another shift, another seemingly ceaseless night of call for me may indeed be the longest day of their life. Sometimes I forget that the waiting seems endless,…

Recently, the FBI foiled an attempt to kidnap the governor of Michigan.  The entire story reads like a Tom Clancy novel: a group of disgruntled strangers meets and organizes through chat rooms online.  They conduct tactical training in the woods, do surveillance runs of the governor’s house, and even make plans to target law enforcement…

Take a moment — yes, right now — to consider your gender. Do you identify as a woman, man, or another gender: essentially, how would you describe your gender identity? How do you show your gender to other people through how you look or act — in other words, your gender expression? And has your…

Imagine having lost your sole source of income in June in the midst of a global pandemic. This is not a unique situation; after all, the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought havoc on many families. And in the United States, life has irrevocably changed. But the worst is yet to come. Illinois is seeing exponential growth…

I remember the sound of pure joy and laughter when playing peek-a-boo with my daughter.  She would look at me with her big blue eyes and giggle loudly.  One of the reasons this game is interesting to children is the psychological concept of object permanence.  In the abstract, object permanence is the realization that things…

“In medicine, the guise of ‘professionalism’ is an example of how an oppressive system has led us to believe that we ought not to advocate for our rights. It would be ‘unprofessional’ to organize for a better health care system for both patients and workers. To work towards personal liberation, Boal calls for a transformational…