Tag: Spring 2017
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Public insurance expansion versus a single payer system
Adil MenonBrookline, Massachusetts Since the late 1940s when employer based private health insurance became increasingly prevalent in the United States, the expansion of public health insurance to a growing share of the population has been viewed as the best approach to helping people, particularly those on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum, obtain medical…
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When a movie ticket to the battered may help!
Rema SundarTrivandrum, Kerala, India Domestic violence awareness through film When four-time Grammy Award winner Tracy Chapman crooned “Last night I heard the screaming,” she was reflecting on a global public health problem. Instances of abuse and violence do not discriminate based on wealth, race, or education. ‘The World’s Women 2015″ report from the United Nations …
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Medicine’s old-school technology
Katie TaylorSan Francisco, CA I am six months into my first year of residency as a doctor. And my experience so far has been sorrowfully screen-dominated. If aliens were to come down and observe a day in the life, I am afraid they’d assume the computer is the patient and the patient’s room the place…
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Using bacteria in cancer therapy
Andy TayLos Angeles, California, United States Cancer is a complex disease whose various causes include bacterial infections such as Helicobacter pylori leading to gastric cancer.1 Bacteria, however, can also be used to treat cancer, a treatment so effective against high grade non-invasive bladder cancer that since 1990, it has remained the preferred therapy.2 The history…
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Designer babies: Boon or bane?
Hanashu DurganauduSelangor, Malaysia Would the implementation of ‘designer babies’ be a boon to humans? First and foremost, it helps to detect known genetic abnormalities and chromosomal diseases at an early stage. This would be particularly helpful for couples or individuals who possess a high risk of passing down disadvantageous genes for conditions such as cystic fibrosis…
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Sunday Sally Rose
Matthew KinsellaBrowns Mills, New Jersey, United States As the new triage nurse on the City Department Of Homeless Services Street Outreach Team, I could observe at first, orient, get my bearings. Well acquainted with the stark reality of life on the street, my three interdisciplinary teammates explained the “proper etiquette” as we traveled behind the…
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Thomas Hodgkin: the limits of idealism
Kirtan NautiyalHouston, Texas, United States Thomas Hodgkin was born in 1798 into a middle class Quaker family then residing in Pentonville, a village north of London. His father was a private tutor and Hodgkin’s early education was also conducted at home, balancing instruction in the Quaker tenets of simplicity and social justice with a wider…
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The Friends’ Ambulance Unit South Bank Clinic: The forgotten valor of the pacifists who stayed beyond the fight
Christopher MagoonPhiladelphia, PA, USA For many of the non-Chinese volunteers who aided China during the tumult of the 1930s and 40s, a notoriety that borders on mythology remains to this day. Perhaps most famously, an American group of volunteer fighter pilots known as the Flying Tigers still enjoys rockstar levels of fame in China. This…
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Mozart’s “effect” on us: A review of an aspect of music and cognition
Vincent de LuiseNew Haven, Connecticut, United States For decades, neuroscientists have explored whether there exists a causal relationship between listening to music and enhancement of cognitive ability. Does music make one smarter? Can listening to music lead to more memory and greater intellect? Does listening specifically to the music of Wolfgang Mozart improve cognitive ability?…