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Dacia Russell Dacia Russell (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

Ohio State University College of Medicine

Dacia Russell is a Class of 2015 medical student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She comes to medical school with a broad-based background in legal policy and community development. Dacia graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in chemistry and a French language citation.

Since college, she has worked in economic development, health policy and law. Dacia earned a law degree at Stanford Law School and her legal training has included an externship at the United States Department of State in the Law Enforcement and Intelligence Division of the Office of the Legal Adviser. She is currently a member of the bar in New York.

Dacia intends to use her advocacy training to advance public policy aimed at improving patient safety and health care delivery. Dacia plans to pursue a career in emergency medicine and health administration.




Patient Safety on the Rocks: Reflections from the 2012 Telluride Patient Safety Roundtable

Published by Dacia Russell

Rugged yet breathtakingly subtle, the backdrop of Telluride, Colorado was a boon for our group of medical students to dissect the obstacles we encounter to safely care for our patients. The setting was the 2012 Telluride Patient Safety Roundtable. I, along with nearly 20 other medical students and leaders from prominent patient safety and health care quality organizations, convened to become better advocates for patient safety. This innovative roundtable, in its eighth iteration, sought to immerse upcoming medical professionals in discussions …

LGBT Health: A Story Behind the Statistics

Published by Meena Thatikunta

Let’s keep it real: this is a long piece and you have to study, dear medical student. But just for a moment, I’ll ask you to think upon your own LGBT medical education experience. Do you feel prepared? Do you know what to ask? Do you know how to ask it? The answers to these questions may vary from an enthusiastic “yes” to “I have to study now” to “…no.” Regardless of where you fall, …

Bonjour Ma Petite Femme Noire

Published by Jocelyn Mary-Estelle Wilson

Who is the black female? Is she lovely, sassy and strong? Who is she in comparison to the 70 kilogram white male upon which certain assumptions are made? What do I need to know about her to be an agent for her health and wellness? And furthermore, what is the tie that binds Michelle Obama, Zoë Saldana and Sybrina Fulton? Power, beauty and poverty walk with the various races and colors in a seemingly desultory …

Defining Disability: A Personal Story

Published by Mae Huo

Rebecca Garden, in her article “Disability and narrative: new directions for medicine and the medical humanities” wrote that “rather than coping with or overcoming their impairment, many disabled people see their impairments as integral to their lives.” This message regarding new directions in medicine for working with people with disabilities may sometimes be overlooked despite its importance. I would like to share a personal story that illustrates this point. I’ve been short all my life–but not short enough …

Stress Management in Medicine

Published by Paul Thomas

Editor’s note: This article was originally published here by contributing writer Paul Thomas. Stress in medicine is a topic that often comes up in the medical literature, in the popular press and in our own interpersonal experiences. But what does stress management look like for a young physician in training? And what are large health systems doing to promote stress management among their employees? This week, I had the good fortune of attending a one-hour session on …

Why Health Policy Matters (as Told by a Health Policy Fellow)

Published by Meena Thatikunta

While this is a serious essay and I should probably first allude to a great literary work, I’ll just keep it real and reference Inception. There’s a fantastic scene in which Ellen Page has her first go at building a dream. She builds a cityscape with ease and is quickly bored. With a spark in her eye she remarks: “What happens when you start messing with the physics of it all?” Likewise, we are questioning …

Chikungunya Virus 2012: A Global Public Health Challenge

Published by Hormuz Nicolwala

A 28-year-old woman with acute joint pains attends a clinic in Switzerland after returning from Mauritius. A 66-year-old man develops severe myalgias in Hong Kong after returning from Africa. These clinical cases summarize one disease:   Chikungunya. Chikungunya–linked neither to chickens nor to the deadly avian flu–means in the Tanzanian dialect Makonde ‘that which bends up,’ referring to the stooped posture of afflicted patients. This nonfatal viral illness transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, which started as an urban phenomenon, …

Organ Donation: To Opt In Or Opt Out

Published by Ryan Denu

Organ shortage is a serious problem in the United States. About 20,000 organ transplants occur every year in the U.S., and 116,689 Americans are currently on a waiting list for an organ, with kidneys being the most needed. The obesity epidemic is contributing to the shortage; a quarter of prospective donors are too obese to donate their kidneys. People typically wait 3-5 years for an organ, and thousands die every year (an average of 18 …

A Whole New Breed of Doctors: Changes in Medical School Admissions

Published by Ryan Denu

The body of students being admitted to medical school has changed drastically in recent years as institutions are trying harder to find students who are well-rounded. As a result, the coming years will witness the birth of a whole new breed of doctors. The question I will address is what this change will mean for the practice of medicine. One major change seen in students admitted to medical school is their undergraduate course of study. …

Remember, Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Published by Jennifer Evan

In histology, we are taught that ‘structure dictates function.’ It is a simply stated phrase that tells medical students to think about how the structure of a tissue determines what its role is in the human body. Does it secrete substances? Is it involved in mechanical abrasive stress? Does it have a large layer of muscle? Of collagen? Many ducts? Extensive folding of the epithelium? These questions, answered entirely by staring at a slide of …

The Role of Research in Medicine

Published by Ankit Modh

What is the role of research in medicine? While it is impossible to quantify, it is important to analyze if we are to continue expending countless hours and money into the medical sciences. Some have argued that the two should not and cannot mix in the first place. Paul De Kruif spends chapters in Our Medicine Men trying prove that the entities of science and that of medicine should be left separate, and that the …

Reading Fiction in Medical School? Surely You Jest.

Published by Patrick McCabe

When he visited UAB last year, Abraham Verghese opened his talk with the statement that if one no longer read fiction, the brain would die. His strong words offered reassurance that at least some medical professionals value literature. Further, the statement suggested that he makes time for it and would allot time for it for others. Indeed, at Stanford, he spends his afternoons brainstorming within a thinking room instead of a laboratory. Verghese’s declaration also …

Patrick McCabe Patrick McCabe (4 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

University of Alabama School of Medicine

Patrick is a Class of 2014 medical student at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. Born and raised in California, he attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana and then spent two years applying his English major by teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth graders literature, grammar, and writing for the university's ACE program in Mobile, Alabama. Current extracurricular interests include trying to resume reading and writing as hobbies, watching films, listening to music and collecting film soundtracks, relaxing with friends, and waiting, with diminishing patience, for the Cal Golden Bears football team to have an undefeated season. He remains undecided about a potential field of practice.