Ishaan Shah is a third-year student in the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in biology and political science. He comes from Cupertino, California. You can reach out to him on Twitter at @ishaantshah.
Health policy can feel like 2018’s hottest topic and many students are looking for a way to learn more. I encourage students to think beyond the policy they see in Washington, D.C. to the laws governing their communities.
Gun violence is a public health crisis. On your average day in America, 297 people are victims of gun violence. They are shot in murders, assaults, suicide attempts and completions and police interventions. 89 of these victims died — seven of which were children. In the first 90 days of 2016, there have been 57 mass shootings. Your average American is now equally as likely to die via firearms as in a car crash.
Currently, 20 physicians hold seats in the US Congress. Their training in the medical profession has instilled within them a unique skill among politicians—the capacity to listen. Not unlike the diagnostic process, a congressman must listen to those citizens that he or she represents and establish the main concern and the plan to address that concern. In speaking with two of the current physician-congressmen, I learned that listening to citizens as a US congressman very …
Contributing Writer
Drexel University College of Medicine
Corey is a Class of 2017 medical student at the Drexel University College of Medicine.
