Opinions

Neepam Shah Neepam Shah (3 Posts)

Writer-in-Training

Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine

Neepam Shah is a New Jersey-based osteopathic medical student interested in Netflix binges, Spotify's eclectic recommendations, and examining the power structures and cultural trends that shape lived experiences. When he's not in class, you can find him in a Philadelphia coffee shop over-caffeinating and procrastinating.




PrEParing for Controversy: Understanding the Limitations of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis

Published by Neepam Shah

The history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is marked by devastating losses and a disease burden that persists to this day. Though slow to emerge, both government policy and pharmaceutical research began to address the epidemic, and the resulting combinations of antiretroviral cocktails and outreach programs have helped make HIV infection a manageable, if inconvenient, chronic condition. In 2012, however, the FDA approved a drug that had the potential to shift both the American and global strategies regarding HIV and AIDS.

Clinton v. Trump: Health Care Proposals

Published by Talia Robledo-Gil

With the 2016 presidential election just days away, debates on the personalities and as well as the policy agendas of the respective candidates have become increasingly fierce. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton may both be moderates at heart, but their official policy platforms represent near-extremes of the political spectrum. This holds especially true in their proposals regarding healthcare: Trump’s proposal, entitled “Health Care Reform to Make America Great Again,” and Clinton’s, “Universal, Quality, Affordable Health Care for Everyone in America” together paint a picture of the spectrum of opinions and debates surrounding healthcare.

Memoir of a Voluntourist

Published by Anna Stecher

Ana and I sat at that table for a few hours, enjoying each other’s company and stories told in choppy combinations of Spanish and English, some laughs of word-finding frustration spattered throughout. We talked about her daughter and grandson who lived with her, the colorful birds that were caged in her open-air courtyard, and the fact that I had come to Antigua from North Dakota to work with the God’s Child Project. As fond as I am of this memory, now that eight years have passed, I look back on my time in Guatemala with some degree of uncertainty about my intentions. I was what many would call a ‘voluntourist.’

On Pleasures and Terrors

Published by Olivia Low

Medical school is terrifying. This is not something I feel like I am supposed to admit — or let alone feel — because it conveys insecurity. For all the learning we compress into our days as students, we operate in a constant state of not knowing. Perhaps paradoxically so, uncertainty itself seems to be guiding us down the path laid before us. It is as if we are walking with our hands stretched out in front of us, groping in darkness. Every day, we face the unfamiliar, not just in terms of knowledge, but also the larger questions of whether we are turning down roads that feel true to us.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: Try Less Bill Gates And More David Koch

Published by Tim Beck

Facebook’s co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan just announced a 3 billion dollar donation to assemble a scientific ‘dream-team’ tasked with “eliminating, curing or preventing disease by the end of the century.” Cori Bargmann, a neuroscientist at Rockefeller University and a scientific superstar, has been named president of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and top scientists such as Harold Varmus, former director of the National Cancer Institute and Nobel laureate, have been recruited to serve on the scientific advisory board. …

On Being a Medical Student

Published by Brent Schnipke

Earlier in the summer, I was speaking with a friend from medical school while we were studying for Step 1, the big test taken by medical students at the end of second year, and he remarked, “There’s really nothing quite like this. We probably don’t even realize how strange it is since we’re so ingrained in it.” He was right: the demands of medical school often make it an all-encompassing undertaking, one that can be difficult to explain to those outside it.

What Can I Do About LGBT Health Disparities?

Published by Tyler McKinnish

The interpersonal ease needed to establish trust between patient and provider might come easily to some, but is only the first barrier. As physicians and physicians-in-training, we ask patients to disclose uncomfortably thorough social and sexual histories which often go beyond the limits of our own experiences. Then we critique them, offering suggestions for risk reduction based on our medical expertise. In order to do this effectively, we are asked to know a lot about communities to which many of us are not members.

Wanna Go To Medical School? You Better Be Rich!

Published by Poorna Sreekumar

We began medical school orientation with several anonymous ice breakers. The idea was to learn more about the class’s demographics through a few clicker questions. Most were innocuous: are you in-state? Did you take a gap year? Were you a science major? They were standard questions in the boring small talk repertoire of medical school orientation. One question though, incited murmuring among students: How many of you came from households with six figure incomes?

Human Sex Trafficking and the Role of the Clinician

Published by Anna Stecher

Major sporting events like the Olympics and the Super Bowl are often surrounded with excitement and drama. This year’s Olympics in Brazil is buzzing with talk of the Zika virus. The Super Bowl was fraught with drama surrounding Beyoncé’s half-time performance. It seems like everyone has something to say about these topics. But, one thing spectators don’t talk about is an unseen drama that often surrounds major sporting events: sex trafficking.

Inside Every Presidential Candidate is a Medical Student — Even Dr. Ben Carson

Published by Augie Lindmark

Ten male students crowded around a clean-shaven instructor who asked a series of questions. The students had meticulously prepared and would maintain close proximity to well-rehearsed answers. Hopefully the questions are simple, they thought. One by one, they answered, at times stumbling through their responses. This was expected. The students were learning and the incorrect answers allowed room for humility. Such a scene could easily describe an American teaching hospital, or, a Republican presidential debate.

Augie Lindmark (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer

University of Minnesota Medical School

Augie Lindmark is a medical student at the University of Minnesota and writes on the topics of global health, policy, and health equity. He once rode a bicycle 4,000 miles, from San Francisco to Boston, to engage the country in conversations on the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Outside of medicine, he enjoys trail running and writing about his favorite superheroes, especially Batman. You can reach him on Twitter @AugieLindmark.