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 ...

On first glance, COVID-19 appeared to be the “great equalizer,” particularly with reports of celebrities and world leaders infected and succumbing to the unruly virus. It seemed that income, race, ethnicity, and location were no longer protective factors. On second glance, though, we find COVID-19 is actually the “great magnifier.” It has shed light on the

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 ...

The Problem While COVID-19 is a novel virus, its devastating impact on public health has shone a spotlight on longstanding failures of our healthcare and social services systems. Thus far in the United States, the virus has claimed over 100,000 lives, dramatically reduced