Opinions

Rachel Solnick Rachel Solnick (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

Baylor College of Medicine

Rachel is a Class of 2015 medical student at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.




Legislative Scope of Practice: Patients Lose When We Let Politicians Play Doctor

Published by Rachel Solnick

Author’s note: This article was originally published on TexasMedicine. In Texas, as in all other states, a person who is unable to make his or her own medical decisions has the right to an advance directive (AD) for restricting medical treatment; that is, unless that person is pregnant. If a woman is pregnant in Texas, she loses her right to an AD; that is true regardless of the stage of her pregnancy and without regard for …

Limitless: The Physician as Human

Published by Alexa Lean

My entire life’s work has culminated in medical school. Every volunteer organization, every organic molecule I drew, every sacrifice I made in the name of studying has led to being here in Washington, D.C. Why? To join the ranks of the people I held with the highest esteem: doctors. Doctors were the embodiment of justice, beneficence and non-maleficence in my mind: flawless humans. Something I overlooked in that belief was that doctors are, in fact, …

Isolated and Unhealthy: Geriatrics in America

Published by Vikas Bhatt

The art of medicine encompasses healing of both the body and the mind, and thus, an understanding of the complex relationship between a patient’s mental well-being and physical disease state. This psychological and physical interplay is even more important in the elderly population, as they are more susceptible to physical disease, and more vulnerable to preventable, psychological neglect. Providing comprehensive care to our large elderly population is a public health necessity. A recent study showed …

Everything You Need to Know About the Ebola Outbreak

Published by Ghady Rahhal

You are likely aware that several countries in West Africa are battling an Ebola outbreak. To make matters more serious, there have been four confirmed cases of Ebola in the United States and one of these patients has died. Due to the lethality of this virus and its presence on US soil, we find ourselves asking a number of questions: Are we safe? How contagious is it? Is there any chance that I have the …

I Don’t Know How to Tell You This…

Published by Anna Zelivianskaia

“My rheumatologist was the one who told me I have cancer because for nine months we thought my back pain was due to a type of arthritis. He felt really bad about it and when he called me to tell me the diagnosis, he started crying on the phone.” A student in my second-year medical school class says this when we are in the big lecture hall for a class presentation on how to give …

Practice What We Preach?

Published by Madhavi Bhavsar

“My doctor told me I needed to eat healthier and exercise. But to be honest, his stomach was literally dragging on the floor. If he can’t follow his own advice, why do I need to?” I was taking the bus home from my hospital shift one afternoon, silently eavesdropping on two middle-aged women sitting in front of me. They had just finished a physical exam with their primary care doctor: a mid-forties man with an …

The Metaphorization of Cancer

Published by Steven Lange

A leading expert on language and the mind, cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker suggests in his book “The Stuff of Thought” that “conceptual metaphors point to an obvious way in which people could learn to reason about new, abstract concepts,” as well as provide the imagery and substrate to help store and share knowledge. The metaphorization of illness allows us to describe it in easily-digestible forms which have relevance and relation to our everyday speech. The …

“CDC is Lying”: An Interview with Dr. Gil Mobley

Published by Laura Faiver

The understanding within the medical community that treatment protocols employed must have cogent efficacy has led to the development of translational medicine, which focuses on identifying and converting basic science research into therapies and procedures physicians can implement. The applicability of translational medicine, as medicine is a dynamic interdisciplinary field, is ubiquitous and gives researchers and medical providers the opportunity to collaborate on various issues affecting the medical community, including infectious disease protocols. Similar to many …

Finding Your Voice in Medical School

Published by Elizabeth Brunn

One of the biggest challenges medical students face is finding their voice: with their medical team, with the hospital staff, with patients, and with their chosen specialty. As a medical student, you want to be proactive, to advocate for the patient, and to learn the best management techniques. But ‘proactive’ for one physician can easily be ‘annoying’ for another physician. Likewise, what can be viewed as ‘lack of initiative’ by one physician is ‘eager to …

Treating the Disease and Treating the Illness

Published by Steven Lange

Standing at the foot of her hospital bed, it was clear to me — as it was to the attending physician — that my grandmother was suffering from a disease: an obvious structural disorder identified by scientific medicine as negatively impacting her health. Hilar mass, cavitation, hypercalcemia. Keratin pearls, intercellular bridges. Hemoptysis, dyspnea, edema. It was also apparent to this eight year-old, however, that she was burdened by an illness, or an impaired sense of well-being. …

Gun Safety: A Florida Invasion on the Doctor-Patient Relationship

Published by Ryan Denu

You’re working at a pediatric primary care clinic and enter the room of a five-year-old boy and his mother for a routine physical. You ask about the child’s general health the past year, his diet, exercise, among other things. Then you start to ask questions relating to the patient’s safety, such as his use of seat belts and helmets, and you start to ask about guns in the home. But then, alarms start to go off …

Ryan Denu Ryan Denu (8 Posts)

Contributing Writer

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Ryan is a Class of 2020 MD/PhD student at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He graduated in May 2012 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BS in molecular biology. He enjoys thinking and writing about health care policy, and is also an avid tennis player, instructor, coach, umpire, and fan.