Tag: global health

Brian Lefchak, MD, MPH Brian Lefchak, MD, MPH (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer

Children's Minnesota

Brian Lefchak graduated summa cum laude in biology from Drexel University in Philadelphia and from the MD/MPH program at Drexel University College of Medicine. He completed pediatric residency at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and is currently a fellow in pediatric emergency medicine at Children's Minnesota. In addition to a career interest in bioinformatics, he is a lifelong musician and performer with hobbies including photography, history, foreign travels and soccer.

The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the position of associated organizations.




Perspectives from the Bike: A Look at an Ecuadorian Hospital

Published by Brian Lefchak, MD, MPH

The gray pickup truck rattled along the rocky path, careening back and forth on a steep incline that reached for the snow-capped peak masked by clouds. While tires slid and kicked up trails of dust that diffused into the mist surrounding us, I was still able to catch a glimpse of Chimborazo, a volcanic pyramid of Ecuador, through pockets of clarity in that atmosphere. Soaring at breathtaking elevations of over 20 thousand feet, Chimborazo is a point near the equator where one can be closest to the sun while standing on Earth.

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 …

Kenyan Life: Soundings from a Slemenda

Published by Bryce McKee

Between my first and second years of medical school, I was fortunate to receive the AMPATH Slemenda Scholarship. This scholarship allowed me to experience medicine firsthand in the global health arena as I worked in Eldoret, Kenya. AMPATH (Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare) is a consortium of North American and Kenyan academic institutions working together to improve health care delivery to a catchment area of 3.5 million people.

“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 …

Hemorrhaging People

Published by Ravi Katari

We discover, learn about and follow important world events through the endeavors of journalists and reporters working within media outlets which, taken wholly, has the purpose of disseminating information, presenting opposing analyses, and constructing discernible truths from a finite data pool. This purpose notwithstanding, as commercial entities, news organizations are still influenced by the need to continually associate with “fresh” topics lest they lose eyes and ears to the competition. Of course, what is and …

Medical Tourism: The Ethics of the Exploitation of a Vulnerable Patient Population for Financial Gain

Published by Ronald Sahyouni

In times of medical ailment, individuals desperately seek medical attention — in particular, a cure or treatment to alleviate their illness. In these times of need, patients turn towards physicians for a diagnosis and effective treatment plan, relying on the latest technologies and therapeutic modalities to jumpstart a return to a normal lifestyle. However, what happens when there is no treatment, no cure and no therapy? When modern medicine no longer has anything to offer, patients …

How to Sell Your Kidney: A Brief Overview of the Iranian Model for Kidney Transplantation

Published by Bobak Zonnoor

Let’s imagine that you are one of the 115,000 people on the kidney transplant waiting list in the United States. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could go on Craigslist and type in “kidney” under the sales section? Well if you are a law-abiding citizen and your life is dependent on a kidney, you have only one legal option: travel to Iran, the only country where buying (and selling) kidneys is legal. Kidney transplant is …

Barrio Tlaxcala: The Importance of Service and International Perspective in Medical School

Published by Stefan Czestochowski

I began volunteering at an interesting time in Chiapas. My medical school was gracious enough to let me participate in a year-long project in Mexico between my second and third years working and teaching for VIVA, an international volunteer group lead by Darinel Ballianas. In June of 2013, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto began introducing laws to restructure the educational and health systems of the country. If passed, they would further privatize the country’s health care …

Hieu

Published by Annie Robinson

How can doctors-in-training address human rights issues through medical care? Hieu, a first-year medical student at Rush, interested in public health and preventive medicine, shares how his experiences as a community health worker in Uganda propelled his motivation to combat structural violence as a physician. He also reflects on the significant distinctions between treatment and care.

The Problem With Playing Doctor: A Critique of Student Medical Outreach from Within

Published by Shraddha Dalwadi

“Is the pain sharp or dull?” I say to the teenaged translator next to me. Rolling her eyes, she quickly mutters something in Spanish to my distressed patient and then relays his response back in English. As she returns to texting on her cell phone, I make the final notes for this patient. Although I have reached the end of an extensive two-page history, I can’t help but feel completely unaccomplished. I’ve been told this …

Impartial Witnesses

Published by Ravi Katari

An open letter appeared in the world’s most prominent medical journal a few weeks ago with the title “Let us treat patients in Syria.” Carrying the signatures of 55 esteemed physicians from around the world, including three Nobel laureates, the letter served as a condemnation of the collapsing medical infrastructure in the region due, in part, to the “deliberate targeting of medical facilities and personnel.” Saleyha Ahsan, an emergency medicine physician and signatory, subsequently published an op-ed in …

Half of a Year, Halfway Across the World

Published by Sadhana Rajamoorthi

Chennai, India. “How are you feeling?” I asked an elderly woman in Tamil, the local language.  She had recently been diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease at the hospital. I struggled to hide my excitement of finally being able to interact with an inpatient after three weeks of waiting for a “TB-free ward.” In the western world, we quarantine patients with tuberculosis; here they are one of the many patients in the general ward who are seen …

Sadhana Rajamoorthi Sadhana Rajamoorthi (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Hi! I am a Class of 2014 medical student at Georgetown University, with plans to pursue family medicine. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 2009 with degrees in chemistry and the history and philosophy of science, I moved to D.C. for medical school. I love D.C. because it has been an amazing place of opportunity for me to pursue my interests in health policy, underserved medical care, cultural awareness and education, and the arts. There is nothing that an open mind can't teach us, and writing is one of the greatest expressions of what we learn from the world, our experiences, and ourselves.