Injury and drowning from worsening storm surges and flooding. Smoke inhalation and burns from wildfires. More severe and frequent heat stroke and heat-related illness. Spread of infectious diseases. Worsening anxiety and depression. These are just a few of the ways in which climate change impacts human health. ...

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is finally experiencing a cultural shift in consciousness and awareness of racial disparities. And meanwhile, the maternal health community’s reckoning with racism is accelerating. Black women in the United States die from pregnancy-related complications at

In 1965, Harvard Medical School (HMS) had a thriving Family Medicine & Primary Care Residency—a visionary program that was strongly rooted in serving the vulnerable populations surrounding the HMS campus. Resident physicians trained to provide outpatient primary care across the life spectrum, working in partnership with Boston Children’s Hospital, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and Boston Lying-In Hospital (the latter two of which are Brigham & Women’s predecessor institutions). ...

As the world has watched with bated breath, the 2020 United States presidential election has unfolded into a paradigm shift marked by apprehension and anticipation. The American people—more civically engaged and politically informed than ever before—have mobilized in a historic show of democratic involvement. As American communities from all walks of life have been galvanized, a single factor has risen to ...

It’s the middle of the month, and rent is almost due again. An estimated 30-40 million people are at risk of eviction in the next several months—and

He’s young. Just 49 years old. A long life ahead of him. He was hospitalized a week ago and doing okay initially on the medical floor. After his saturations were consistently in the 80s on the highest level of supplemental oxygen, he needed to be intubated. We asked him if he wanted to call his family before intubation, just like we do with all our COVID patients… because we know it might be the last time. He declined, said he’s not in touch with his family and has no friends to call. He was adamant that he didn’t want his estranged parents or brother contacted for updates while ...

A while back I was invited to attend a panel discussion on primary care at an area medical school. For 45 minutes the other two primary care doctors and I shared a lighthearted conversation about why we love primary care, interspersing various plugs for why the students should consider the field for themselves. After several stories about the satisfaction we derive from our jobs and the joys in the relationships we form with our patients, a student raised their hand to ask a question about how the current political climate was affecting our practice. “I’ll take this ...

I refuse to write another state of emergency article. I have no more words to say about the epidemic of anti-Black violence and white supremacy’s murderous impact on Black bodies. I’ve lost count of how many names we’ve typed of siblings murdered by police officers. We’ve screamed at our computer screens about the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities, and for so ...

As many Family Medicine colleagues across the United States complete residency, I find myself looking back to those challenging yet invigorating years. Residency training certainly solidified my clinical skills, from diabetes to pregnancy labor management, but also heightened my interest in social issues. Training in Western North Carolina meant working in a non-Medicaid expansion state where Black babies were three times more likely to die within their first year of life than white babies and where those struggling with opioid addiction were often marginalized. Each day seemingly brought ...