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.

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 ...
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Addiction and Recovery: The Importance of Human Connection

From April 2020-2021, 100,306 parents, spouses, siblings, friends, colleagues, and neighbors in the United States died from fatal overdose—a 28.5% increase from the year ...

Exploring the Schism between Public Health and the Health Care System

Patients tell me all the time that our health care infrastructure needs reformation. Many people, including myself, would agree with that statement, but reformed to what? As a Patient Access Specialist at

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, ...

Does Epidemiology Need a Rethink?

Epidemiology, the broad study of disease incidence and causality, has long formed the backbone of public health. Its rapid tabulations and population-level insights have made it an enduring discipline, which often shapes health policies across the globe. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has reasserted epidemiology’s relevance in disease control and prevention. As we have all ...

The Power of a Personalized Approach: Physicians’ Fight against Misinformation and Vaccine Hesitancy

“There was so much information out there, I didn’t know what to do. I just wish someone had convinced me to get the vaccine,” said a COVID-19 patient we cared for a few days after he had been transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU). Each day, we slowly turned up his oxygen. Each day, he could only manage a few words at a time as the virus, that has come to dominate all of our lives, ravaged his lungs. Every patient we have had in the ICU with COVID-19 in the last ...

Medication Abortion – Prioritizing Access in 2021 & Onward

Medication abortion is a common and important part of primary care…and access to safe abortion care will likely soon be made either harder or easier, depending on the state in which you live. The example of SB 8 in Texas is the most extreme currently, where no one can access an abortion in Texas if they are more than ...