Author: Caroline Barnaby, MLA “Your dad was feeling dizzy today after a dip in the ocean. He thinks he might be experiencing vertigo from swimmer’s ear,” remarked my mum during our weekly phone conversation. “I’m going to schedule an appointment with his doctor, just in case.” It was the summer of 2018, and my dad had just retired after a 42-year career as an elementary school physical education teacher for ...

My patient sat back in her chair, shoulders curled forward over her substantial belly, two canes leaning against the counter next to her. “No, doctor, I need you to say that you WILL make this happen, not that you will ‘try’. Can you say that?” It was an uncomfortable moment. As a physician I am not used to having my words dictated to me, and I did not take to it very well. She was about to be released from rehabilitation, recovering from surgery. She usually lives in her own home, by herself, but with a support team due to her serious mental and ...

The Harvard Home for Family Medicine builds upon the growing community of HMS family medicine students, residents, and attendings engaged in family medicine education, research, and mentorship opportunities. While most of our more active participants are based within the Harvard system, our Harvard Medical School students often graduate to residencies further afield. In this series, we’re thrilled to spotlight what some of our recent HMS Family Medicine students have gone on to achieve. Name: Sara ...

The Harvard Home for Family Medicine builds upon the growing community of HMS family medicine students, residents, and attendings engaged in family medicine education, research, and mentorship opportunities. While most of our more active participants are based within the Harvard system, our Harvard Medical School students often graduate to residencies further afield. In this series, we’re thrilled to spotlight what some of our recent HMS Family Medicine students have gone on to achieve. Name: Juliana E. ...

The Primary Care Improvement Network (PCIN) is a membership-based network focused on supporting practice transformation, quality improvement, leadership skills, and the dissemination and spread of best practices. The program brings together important primary care stakeholders to address ongoing health care challenges. The goal of the program is to develop high-performing interdisciplinary teams to engage the PCIN themes of 2019-2020, which include effective implementation of telemedicine and effectively address health-related social needs. In the Primary Care sphere, there ...

Name: Ashley Shaw HMS graduation year: 2019 Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA What are you most proud of? I am most proud of contributing to the nurturing of a more robust and interdisciplinary community of students armed with the skills to become leaders in the primary care of tomorrow. I feel so grateful to have benefitted personally and professionally from that community as well. How were you involved in primary care at ...

The Harvard Home for Family Medicine builds upon the growing community of HMS family medicine students, residents, and attendings engaged in family medicine education, research, and mentorship opportunities. While most of our more active participants are based within the Harvard system, our Harvard Medical School students often graduate to residencies further afield. In this series, we’re thrilled to spotlight what some of our recent HMS Family Medicine students have gone on to achieve. Name:

Name: Megan Townsend HMS graduation year: 2019 Residency: University of Colorado, Denver, CO What are you most proud of? There is a strong history of passionate and dedicated students working to advance primary care at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and it was my pleasure at HMS to add to this tradition. The Center itself was created as a response to student demand for more support for primary care students, and I am proud that I helped contribute to building and ...

By: Mahmud Ibrahim, MD and Linda Girgis, MD According to the CDC, there are an estimated 50 million adults (or 20.4% of the population) in the US suffering from chronic pain. Additionally, there are 19.6 million adults with high-impact chronic pain. Chronic pain is defined as pain that typically lasts for longer than 12 weeks. While pain may serve as a warning of possible injury, chronic pain can last for months to years. Many chronic pain patients seek ...