Archive

Perspectives in Primary Care features writing from practitioners, activists, and community members representing organizations, practices, and institutions across the United States and around the world.

Stories

The Salutary Impact of Listening to the Trauma Story

I entered the Brighton Marine Public Health Center in Massachusetts in December 1981, where hundreds of Indochinese refugees were being medically screened after the fall of Saigon. I’ll never forget my first patient—a middle-aged Cambodian woman with major hearing loss. During the exam, she told me that her hearing loss began after being beaten unconscious by the Khmer Rouge soldiers and left for dead on a pile of the bodies of her relatives. At the time, I knew nothing about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. I had no training on the impact of extreme violence on ...
Advocacy

Black Birthing Persons Matter—All of Them

A Black trans dad, Kayden Coleman shares his clinical experience during his two pregnancies. He recounts horrible encounters with gestational care providers, such as being offered an abortion a “ridiculous” number of times, misgendered by physicians, virtually forgotten during his postpartum period, and even turned away from care.
Stories

Trauma-Informed, Holistic Health Care: A Journey from Patient to Advocate

PurpLE Health Foundation is a non-profit organization in New York City, which invests in the physical, mental, and financial health of survivors of gender-based violence. PurpLE Health Foundation’s signature program is its collaboration with
Reference

ACE Scores: The New Fifth Vital Sign?

Every day in the hospital, and during every visit to the clinic or emergency room, we pay scrupulous attention to your vital signs: heart rate, temperature, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. These numbers are the bedrock of understanding what is happening with a patient’s health. We should add another number to this group: the Adverse Childhood Event (ACE) score. The significance of Adverse Childhood Event (ACE) scores The ACE score was developed in California ...

How a Women’s Rights Organization in India is Changing the Culture

Years ago, a friend and I were coming home from university very late on a cool, breezy evening. The public transport was crowded, so we decided to walk home. On our way, as we crossed a dark, deserted alley, a group of men started following us, using abusive language, talking about our body parts loudly. We quickened our paces, they did the same. As we entered the street where my friend lived, we were in a state of panic. As these men crossed into ...

Health Equity & Reproductive Justice: Transforming Perinatal Care Now

Drug-involved fatal poisonings for 2020 are expected to reach over

Sex Ed Isn’t Actually About Sex

As a teen in rural Appalachia, I didn’t know what I was missing when it came to my abstinence-only sex education. It wasn’t until I endured an emotionally abusive relationship as a young medical student that I began to question how I, as a strong, independent woman, could end up in something so psychologically toxic. After gaining the silent courage to leave that relationship, I did a deep dive into unhealthy relationships and how we, as a society, can prevent this type of violence. ...

COVID-19 Ravages the COFA Community in Hawai‘i

As of January 31, 2021, Pacific Islanders in Hawai‘i had the highest age-adjusted mortality rate in the United States at 319.6 deaths per 100,000 persons. In comparison, the United States mortality rate during the same period was 153 deaths per 100,000, and Hawai‘i as a whole had the lowest mortality rate in ...

Menstrual Health During COVID-19: How Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Can Improve Equity

Globally, over 800 million women, girls, and gender non-binary persons are menstruating while simultaneously coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, the ability to safely manage their menstrual health and hygiene remains a widely
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