Writer-in-Training
Dartmouth Medical School
Reza Hessabi is a native Southern Californian currently braving the winters of rural New Hampshire. He graduated from UCLA in 2012 with a Neuroscience BS, and followed his passion for service into national politics, working on a presidential campaign as an intern and field organizer. Diligently returning to medicine, he graduated from Tulane University with an MS in 2014. He now attends Dartmouth Medical School with a deer, a few moose, and many, many squirrels.
Intellectually, I understood the potential devastation that a lack of health insurance could bring to so many Americans. But it wasn’t until 2012 that I viscerally felt just how health care policies made in faraway Washington affected the lives of so many.
In the 2016 election cycle, millions of Americans elected a president who had never before held public office, believing they had “rejected the political establishment.” While the underlying idea of this perspective has its merits, there is a group even less represented — and more desperately needed — in the federal government than businessmen: scientists and physicians.
We are in agreement. A robust and intellectual discussion of health care reform requires knowledge of the factors in play. Yet, we are deeply troubled by the simplicity and lack of nuance in a number of your arguments. Here are some our responses.
I spent one year working full-time as a pharmacy technician at a high-volume community pharmacy prior to entering medical school. Besides learning the intricacies of billing and the dispensing process, I was also granted access into a world few physicians are aware of.
We are each entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts. In his op-ed, Mr. Barsouk makes a number of statements that contradict the facts, eroding the credibility of his arguments. I hope to address the six most problematic statements here.
In promoting health justice, our team at Systemic Disease believes it is vital to recognize the connection between bias and adverse health outcomes. We utilized a discussion model provided by In-Training’s Beyond Illness Roundtable toolkit to guide a discussion on such interactions that exist across all interprofessional relationships and those that may cloud, strain and negatively impact individuals from teaching, learning and, above all, healing.
On May 12, late-night personality Jimmy Kimmel gave a now famous emotional monologue about his newborn son’s health complications, concluding with a politicized message against Trump’s budget and health care reforms. Although Kimmel avoided directly implicating Republicans or Trump, he delivered his “heartfelt plea” immediately following the approval of the Republican American Health Care Act (AHCA), making it obvious whom Kimmel was really addressing.
Understanding the origins of words is helpful in medicine. “Genu” and “corpus” are Latin for knee and body, respectively. “Hippos” is Greek for “horse” and “kampos” for “sea monster.” (Can you tell I am in a brain sciences block)?
“Where are you from?” A question that I am asked many times during the course of my day. But the answer has never been clear nor concise.
The argument for wrenches on the path to doctorhood is as follows: if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. Students able to memorize the various bacterial growth media will likely remember the drugs to prescribe in an acute myocardial infarction.
The derailment of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) has given the supporters of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) much to be joyous about. But many are wondering what happens next in the healthcare debate.
Matching into a residency program is the culmination of four (or more) years of incredibly hard work and determination. This process does not come without an abundance of stress, fear and at times, self-doubt, at least in our experience.
Contributing Writer
The Georgetown University School of Medicine
Eric is from a small town in northern Wisconsin called De Pere and attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI for his undergraduate studies. He is currently in between his 3rd and 4th years of medical school at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC pursuing a research fellowship in orthopaedic surgery. His fellowship is at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago, IL under the mentorship of Dr. Brian J. Cole MD, MBA. As an aspiring orthopaedic surgeon, Eric is devoted to making impactful changes in patient care through research. He has presented his research at several national conferences including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' Annual Meeting.
