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“Good Insurance”
It all started innocuously enough in the week leading up to Christmas in 2019 with a runny nose, a cough, and some fussiness. All pretty standard for... -
Lessons from Steward and the Need for Primary Care Reform in Massachusetts
The Steward Health Care system collapse has raised alarm bells and activated a crisis response from many levels of Massachusetts’ political and... -
Protecting Foster Care-Involved Youth with Asthma in the District of Columbia
In the 17th annual Child Fatality Review Report, the DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) disclosed the death of a 9-year-old female involved...
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.
Advocacy
Vaccine Rollout and the Great Divide: Communities of Color Deserve More from Our Health Care System
I remember getting this phone call from a friend and feeling helpless: I want my grandmother who lives in Boston to get vaccinated, but I don't have transportation to get her to one of the mass vaccination sites, and also I don't feel comfortable taking her out of her home. She is 90 years old with underlying conditions which places her in the high-risk category. ...
Primary Care
Community Health
Health Equity
COVID-19
Public Health
Activism
Trauma
Global Health
Sexual and Reproductive Health
Behavioral Health / Mental Health
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
Primary Care
Health Equity
Health Policy
Public Health
Activism
Sexual and Reproductive Health
LGBTQIA+
Advocacy
Menstrual Justice Is a Matter of Health Equity: How to Fight Period Poverty and Stigma
While assisting patients in the Emergency Department (ED) one morning, I met a patient I’ll refer to as Mary. When I walked in, she was hunched over the edge of the bed, gripping her abdomen in distress. As I approached her, asking how I could make her more comfortable, she sat up slightly. She sounded ashamed as she opened up to me about not having access to menstrual products and unexpectedly starting her period while waiting in ...
Community Health
Health Equity
Social Determinants of Health
Public Health
Global Health
Behavioral Health / Mental Health
Advocacy
Whose Trauma? De-Colonizing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Refugee Mental Health Frameworks
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma needs in the Arab region The unprecedented political violence that swept the Arab region in the last century, from the Nakba of the Palestinain people to the wars in Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, have ...
Insights
Arab American Research Gaps and a Survey of its Solutions
A little thought exercise Think of the simplest pieces of health information that we know, rely upon, and understand in society. Smoking causes lung cancer, insulin resistance precedes type-2 diabetes, lead bears a detrimental impact on child health. Because of applied public health, surveillance programs, population health metrics, and increased data ...
Advocacy
Lessons in Health Equity Learned During the Pandemic
In the spring of 2020, as the pandemic bore down on our country, I was appointed to the COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group to help guide the executive branch on communication, distribution, and equity issues relating to the distribution of vaccines. My role as the President and CEO of the state’s ...
Stories
Responsible Medical Engagement in the Developing World
In July 2018, I engaged in a four-week research and service-learning trip in Buhoma, Kanungu District, Uganda. The trip was designed to address two of the most pressing concerns for the isolated, rural communities that rely on the local hospital,
Primary Care
Community Health
Health Equity
Public Health
Sexual and Reproductive Health
Behavioral Health / Mental Health
Advocacy
Healing Across the Divides: Peace Building Through Health, Part 2
Healing Across the Divides is based on the simple idea that all humans desire good health. And it was created because all Americans are engaged in the Middle East conflict, as Israel is the greatest ...
Insights
A “Mouthless” Medical Education: The Gap Between Medicine and Dentistry in Academia and Practice
Medicine and dentistry in the classroom: the context of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine Since the conception of Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) in 1867, students at the dental school learned alongside medical colleagues at Harvard Medical School (HMS) during their early years of professional development. The idea of dentistry as a ...