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.

Advocacy

Increasing the Black Physician Workforce: How One Student is Taking Action to Address Diversity in Medicine

“When I grow up, I wanna be Dr. G!” That was how, at seven years old, I announced to my parents that I wanted to be a doctor. Dr. Jan Garavaglia (aka, “Dr. G”) was my role model and the star of my favorite TV show, Dr. G: Medical Examiner. Growing up as an avid viewer of Discovery Health Channel programs, my earliest role models were the doctors I watched every day.
Advocacy

Physical Activity and Health: Move to Live More!

For medical and public health practitioners working on the COVID-19 response, infectious disease is what we see all day every day. But when we look beneath the surface, we see the extent to which this infectious disease pandemic is fueled by an underlying chronic disease pandemic. Deemed its own
Reference

Improving Health Care Access by Meeting Patients Where They Are

Throughout the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified many existing inequities in health care and throughout society. CommunityHealth, a free health clinic in Chicago, saw its patients face these ...
Advocacy

Food Rx: A Prescription for Health Systems and Medical Education

It’s an overcast Tuesday morning in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as Mary walks into the outpatient clinic for her groceries. The warm air in the lobby feels like a pleasant welcome from the blistery snow outside, but it’s the words spaghetti squash and salmon—two of her favorite items the pharmacy provides—written on the whiteboard that make her smile. The dietician at the ...
Advocacy

The Divinity of Doula Care: A Framework for Understanding the Essential Care Providers Shaping Perinatal Outcomes

The term “doula” is the latest buzzword appearing everywhere, from social media and podcasts to federal and statewide legislation and health care policy. This popularity may be attributable to the recent increase of peer-reviewed research that demonstrates what has long been communal knowledge—that this ...
Advocacy

Finding the Courage and Will to Achieve Health Equity: Asking the Right Questions

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and instances of racism against Black individuals have resulted in dangerous health outcomes for Black Americans, particularly given Black/African Americans are
Reference

Cybersecurity and Health Care: How Hacking is Costing Lives

Sarah is a single mother with a family history of heart disease. One morning, she’s driving her son to soccer practice when she experiences sudden chest pain. Recognizing the signs of a heart attack, her son calls 911 and waits for an ambulance to arrive. Thankfully, one arrives quickly, but instead of taking Sarah to the hospital down the block, it takes her to one across town. Unfortunately, because of the delay, Sarah’s heart suffers irreversible damage.
Advocacy

Vaccine Rollout and the Great Divide: Communities of Color Deserve More from Our Health Care System

I remember getting this phone call from a friend and feeling helpless: I want my grandmother who lives in Boston to get vaccinated, but I don't have transportation to get her to one of the mass vaccination sites, and also I don't feel comfortable taking her out of her home. She is 90 years old with underlying conditions which places her in the high-risk category. ...