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.
Primary Care
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Health Equity
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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 ...
Advocacy
Primary Care Innovations in Medical Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from the Philippines
It has been almost two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This global health crisis continues to expose the vulnerabilities of health systems worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as the Philippines. While advanced hospital-based health care is required in treating the life-threatening complications of severe COVID-19, it is a
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 ...
Stories
Mindfulness and the Societally Marginalized Person
Mindfulness, in its simplest construct, is generally defined as deliberate present moment awareness, without judgment, coupled with curiosity about what arises. Yet, this seemingly reasonable and scientifically studied approach to living fully, being authentic, and “embracing what is” translates into a minefield when the starkness of such ...
Knock-Knock: Our Ordinary is the Patient’s Extraordinary
The time reads 8:30 am. Walking down the pediatric wards as a third-year medical student, it is easy to get lost in the routine. Step by step with the rest of the medical team on morning rounds, I report an elevated direct bilirubin outside the patient room of a young newborn whose liver is looking a little “junky” to say the least. “His belly is soft and non-distended,” I report.
Sudden Death in the Realm of Possibility: The Psychosocial Trauma, Uncertainty, and Health Care Needs of Migrants Crossing the Mexico-U.S. Border
Matamoros, Mexico: The living conditions of displaced migrants Poverty, violence, natural disasters, and political instability are all forces that have led to mass migration and displaced populations globally. In the Americas, migrants crossing from Honduras into Mexico face a number of personal safety and health concerns, including a high risk of sex trafficking, ...