Sharing successes, challenges and daily happenings in the Department of Medicine
Social factors account for a significant percent of deaths in the United States; however, research and the inclusion of standard ways to define and capture these determinants into patient health records are arguably in their nascent stage. As talk of social determinants of health permeate the halls of academic medical centers and schools of public health,(...)
The January 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association features the article “Association of Race and Ethnicity with Live Donor Kidney Transplantation in the United States From 1995 to 2014” authored by Tanjala S. Purnell and colleagues including Lisa Cooper, Deidra Crews and Ebony Boulware from the DOM. The study aims to(...)
The Journeys in Medicine event on Oct. 17 focused on the topic of “Empowering Care Providers to Address Patient Discrimination in the Clinical Setting." While this is not a new issue at Johns Hopkins, it has become a more frequent problem in the last 6-8 months given the national political climate. Sherita Golden, professor and executive vice(...)
Many may recall this past spring when the media led a full-court press focusing on work published by Case and Deaton in PNAS in 2015 on the rising morbidity and mortality among white Americans. In short, Case and Deaton’s work highlighted what they characterize as “deaths of despair.” These deaths from suicide, poisoning and liver disease(...)
The Department of Medicine Civic Engagement Committee would like all of our faculty, staff and trainees to consider attending this Journeys in Medicine session on Tuesday, October 17 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Unfortunately in the first half of 2017, our medical care teams have reported more incidents of intolerance and patients making derogatory comments or requesting(...)
In a recent JAMA Viewpoint article, "Making All Lives Matter in Medicine From the Inside Out," Michael O. Mensah, a current resident at the University of California, Los Angeles, reveals a brief narrative of an “all-to-familiar” experience where during his medical student years at the University of California, San Francisco he was subjected to situations(...)
A few months back, a colleague emailed me an essay entitled “Medical Education and the Minority Tax” from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Since that time, the content of the essay has sparked interesting conversations. This brief essay chronicles the perspective and journey of Kali D. Cyrus, MD, MPH who, at the time,(...)
On Wednesday, June 21, The Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Medicine’s Civic Engagement Committee volunteered in the Douglas Homes Community Health Fair. The purpose of the fair was to educate and empower families to take actions and make good choices to be more self-sufficient. The fair connected families with community resources with health screenings for all ages,(...)
About two years ago our department began on a journey to chronicle thought-provoking articles, activities and innovative ideas that focused on community engagement, community health and equity. We encourage readers to look back at previous posts, as well as review a recent post from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Improving Community Health by Strengthening Community Investment: Roles(...)
In a recent Health Affairs Blog "Restoring Equity to the Health Law Debate," Abraham Nussbaum, a psychiatrist at Denver Health, delivers an awakening perspective on a missing component of our critical conversation and public debate on health reform--EQUITY. He delves into a historical account of the Scottish physician, Archie Cochrane whose insights from the famous lecture(...)