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Inequity and Indigenous People: The COVID-19 Crisis
Written by Elizabeth Badalov Edited by Anling Chen The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically shifted the norms which dictate how people interact with each other. These effects are felt not only on the individual level, but throughout entire communities and populations. Social distancing restrictions advise physical separation from loved ones to minimize the spread of the virus and protect at-risk individuals. Unfortunately, distance is a luxury few can afford - especially for mem
The Uphill Battle to Becoming a Doctor: Undergraduate Money Matters
Written by Sanjana Ahmed Edited by Lok - Yee Lam When discussing trials and tribulations faced by students pursuing careers as doctors, many think about the hours spent studying, participating in extracurriculars, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life. What so many people gloss over is the issue of money. In the United States, it is largely known that seeking higher education is a costly endeavor. On average, a four-year undergraduate degree costs $37,650 at
U.S. Healthcare Economics -- Why are Drugs Getting More Expensive and Why You Should Care
Written by Lok-Yee Lam Edited by Sanjana Ahmed One of the growing concerns that we’re seeing in the U.S. healthcare system is the pricing for brand-name drugs. Over the years, pharmaceutical companies have become notorious for marking up their brand-name drugs’ price tags. These copays and coinsurances can get fairly expensive even if a patient has health insurance. Even worse, for people who don’t have health insurance or a prescription drug coverage plan, they may be left t
Health Disparities in the LGBTQ Community
Written by Aisha Abid Edited by Razna Ahmed Health disparities exist in the LGBTQ community, which are associated with social stigma, stereotypes, and prejudice. There are transgender issues that we are struggling with, and will continue to face them, just like we do with sexism and racism after many centuries. Identity shouldn’t be assumed based on appearance and behavior. Individuals in this community experience prejudice daily due to a lack of adequate health care. These d
DIY Medicine - Hacking Humanity’s Way Towards Enhanced Treatments
Written by Jonathan Gao Edited by Razna Ahmed The date is October 3rd, 2017 – the first of three days at SynBioBeta, a biotechnology conference in Mission Bay Conference Center, San Francisco. In between rounds of Scotch, Dr. Josiah Zayner, a former NASA researcher and a self-proclaimed DIY biohacker, holds up a syringe of CRISPR DNA that he procured himself. “This will give me bigger muscles” he tells the onlooking crowd as he shoots the content of the syringe into his left
Want $100? Get Vaccinated.
Written by Pooja Suganthan Edited by Kelvin Wu Nearly all current Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations consist of unvaccinated Americans. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that “if you are not yet vaccinated, you are among those at highest risk” (Berkeley Lovelace Jr, 2021). As the Covid-19 vaccine becomes more widely available, and states begin to return to a new normal, government and company officials alike are working
WHOSE LIFE IS WORTH SAVING?
By - Elizabeth Badalov, Edited By - Melissa-Maria Kulaprathazhe May 27, 2020 It is no secret that hospitals across the globe are overwhelmed and understocked. Healthcare workers have had to concentrate their efforts entirely onto COVID-19 patients in desperate need of immediate care, and the stock of essential resources follows. In the throes of a pandemic, the allocation of crucial medical equipment like ventilators becomes a matter of life and death. This raises the inevita
EUTHANASIA, ASSISTED SUICIDE, AND THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH
By - Razna Ahmed, Edited by - Nadia Addasi May 26, 2020 The Hippocratic Oath, established about 2,500 years ago, dictates that physicians and medical professionals follow a set of ethical medical standards. The fundamental premise of the Oath is that doctors “will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it nor will [they] make a suggestion to this effect,” as translated from Hippocrates. The Oath is the basis of modern medical treatment. The Hippocratic Oath is on
WHO GETS THE VENTILATOR?
By - Pooja Suganthan, Edited by - Nadia Addasi May 3, 2020 At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City, news channels highlighted chaotic supermarkets crowded with shoppers. Consumers were competing to buy necessities, such as water bottles, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer in bulk. Disinfecting products and masks are now hard to find in most local stores. Similarly, hospitals are facing shortages in medical equipment and resources. Ventilators are one of the crit
INFORMED CONSENT FOR ELDERLY IMMIGRANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES
By- Razna Ahmed, Edited by - Nadia Addasi April 19, 2020 Informed consent ensures that a patient and, if appropriate, the patient’s family, has an understanding of their health problems, and treatment options and their consequences so that they may knowingly consent to treatment. Its role is to protect the patient and respect patient autonomy, or their right to make their own decision. In Western medicine, it is the patient’s right to consent to their treatment without outsid
PRISON LABOR IN THE ERA OF CORONAVIRUS
By - Elizabeth Badalov, Edited By - Melissa-Maria Kulaprathazhe April 14, 2020 “Do you have Purell?” I asked the pharmacist behind the counter of the fourth drugstore I visited that day. He could not stop himself from laughing at my question, shaking his head in defeat and gesturing toward the shelves that have been swept empty by panicked New Yorkers. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep the state, we are reassured that we will not be left without resources—resources
WHAT’S IN A FACE?
BY – MADONNA MOZA AND SHLOMO SMALL November 7, 2018 Where is the line? What happens if we cross it? These questions are not unique to medicine, but perhaps what’s unique is the question, “If we cross the line who do we become?” When Dr. Joseph Murray performed the first organ transplant, he and most other people felt the effect of this Herculean step in medicine. Incongruously enough, 57 years later, at the same hospital, for the first time in the history of the United States
CALL FOR PERSPECTIVE ON BIOETHICS
BY – SHLOMO SMALL May 2, 2018 The need for the field of bioethics, and ethicists in general, is apparent to most reading this. The horrors of the past have not yet been in the rearview long enough to fade from memory. However, beyond the basic principles under which we operate–such as the concepts of Autonomy, Nonmaleficence, Beneficence, and Justice–the overarching philosophy of the field is not as clear. We stress over and occupy ourselves with how to apply these principles
THE RIGHT TO DIE
BY – UROOJ KHAN April 19, 2018 Imagine spending countless years studying medical textbooks from cover to cover and working diligently in exhausting hospital rotations. Fully equipped with the necessary medical expertise, you finally enter the healthcare profession with the intention of being compassionate and above all, healing others. Then, you come across a patient who exerts no desire to live and requests that you to cut off their treatment. What would be the appropriate r