Opinions

Joniqua Ceasar Joniqua Ceasar (5 Posts)

Contributing Writer

Baylor College of Medicine

Joniqua Ceasar is a member of Baylor College of Medicine's Class of 2020. She is passionate about social justice within medicine and plans to engage in a career of public health. When she isn't in the hospital, you can find her working on a DIY craft project, tweeting via @rxforjustice, or snapping photos on her DSLR.




Murky Waters in Flint, Michigan

Published by Joniqua Ceasar

The images of water from Flint, Michigan water came into my mind and I lingered at the sink a few minutes too long. I became heartbroken for the children whose bodies may have been irreversibly and negatively impacted. I became enraged at a system that would prioritize saving pennies over properly protecting its citizens from preventable harm. Governor Rick Snyder, his appointed “emergency financial managers” and other leaders allowed this crisis to develop over years as they mistreated Black citizens through racist policies, violated the public trust, and endangered lives. A significantly poor and majority black city was told it was okay to use polluted water to prepare their children’s dinners. Families washed their dishes in what could be mistaken for urine. They scrubbed their pearly whites with toxins to avoid cavities.

Is Medical Humanism a Humanism?

Published by Steven Lange

It is 1 p.m. on a Wednesday, and 250 medical students are filing into the lecture hall to listen to a lecture on health care and society. The chatter is not one of excitement, but of disconcertment. Many students complain that their time would be better spent studying hematology. These are not uncaring students who disavow the needs of the disabled, but a generation that demonstrates a palpable reaction to the way that medicine is taught. We may be quick to fault them for their alarming aversion to a discussion on ethics, but we must also consider: is ethics meant to be force-fed?

Longing for Joy During the Holiday Season

Published by Joshua Niforatos

I approach the holiday season with apprehension; it conjures up memories from my youth of disunity, abandonment and what seems like intractable melancholy and disappointment. King Solomon in the book of Proverbs, which is in the Ketuvim of the Hebrew Bible, states that “hope deferred makes the heart sick,” and merely writing these sentiments produces a visceral feeling of a sick, empty heart.

What Sexism in Medicine Looks Like

Published by Karishma Bhatt

These words, spoken by Dr. Gabrielle McMullin, a vascular surgeon in Australia, refer to a recent case wherein a female surgical resident won a case against a surgeon accused of sexually assaulting her in the Melbourne hospital where they both worked. Ironically, winning this workplace harassment lawsuit has made it impossible for the surgical resident, Caroline Tan, to find a job. In the surgical profession, speaking up against assault has resulted in Tan being labeled not as a victim or a brave woman who spoke up, but as a troublemaker.

To Medical Student Activists on the Anniversary of the White Coat Die-In

Published by Jennifer Tsai

One year ago, on December 10, 2014, over 3,000 medical students participated in the National White Coat Die-In. We knelt to the ground, rested our backs on concrete and tile, looked up at the ceiling and contemplated what it meant to be a citizen. We embraced a deafening silence pregnant with the implications of erasure. Our bodies, cloaked in the privilege of a white coat, painted a complicated image of advocacy and appropriation.

#MuslimsSaveLives: An Open Letter to Health Care Leadership

Published by Sriharsha Gowtham

Our American democracy was founded on the promise of freedom of religion, a conviction that invites immigrants from all over the world and enables our country to grow and prosper. Our health care system is strong because we celebrate that diversity — understanding diverse perspectives and cultural practices is fundamental to providing the highest quality of care. Today, hatred and xenophobia have been thrust into our daily lives in a way that degrades our common humanity and impairs our ability to work together.

Cheating in Medical Education: Group-Testing May Have an Advantage

Published by Ibukunoluwa Araoye

My friend, Valerie Schwartz, and I stumbled on the importance of collaborative thinking while we spent our usual afternoon quizzing each other and discussing patient cases during our pediatrics rotation. “At what age can babies start to use non-specific ‘mama’ and ‘dada’?” As I sifted through my knowledge bank, a third friend decided to throw me a lifeline. I thought it was 10 months, he thought it was six months. So, we decided to compromise. We landed on six months after deliberations.

A Comprehensive Strategy to Increase Organ Donation

Published by Ryan Denu

Over 120,000 adults and children are waiting for an organ in the United States, and another patient needing an organ is added to the transplant list every ten minutes. On average, about 20 Americans die every day from the lack of available organs for transplant. Specific to kidney transplant, it has been estimated that by 2015, over 700,000 Americans will have end stage renal disease and over 26 million will have some form of chronic kidney disease.

Ontario’s Health Care Cutbacks are Affecting Medical Students

Published by Andrew Micieli

The Ontario government is cutting physician services. Two rounds of unilateral fee cuts, with the most recent on October 1, saw physician fees cut by 1.3 percent. Different from other public sector employees, physicians have a commitment to patient care, limiting their legal and ethical ability to take job action. As a medical student not currently earning a salary — but rather paying $24,000 a year in tuition — and junior member of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), I can only passively observe the reaction of many doctors in Ontario to these cuts, and the accompanying provincial government’s almost apathetic response.

Physicians Must Not Lag Behind National Policy on Transgender Discrimination

Published by Tehreem Rehman

As a native New Yorker, I was thrilled when last month Governor Cuomo announced plans for an executive order that prohibits discrimination against transgender people. This executive order would apply to issues such as employment and housing, expand existing anti-discrimination protections to include gender identity, transgender status and gender dysphoria.

Tehreem Rehman (4 Posts)

Contributing Writer

Yale School of Medicine

Tehreem Rehman is an MD/MPH candidate at Yale/Johns Hopkins. She is invested in addressing the impact of adversity and trauma on psychopathology, clinical and community interventions for violence, and the relationship between healthcare provider biases and health inequity. Tehreem blogs at www.tehreemrehman.wordpress.com and can be reached on Twitter @tehreem_rehman.