Elizabeth Métraux is a writer and medical anthropologist.
In a recent article in Health Affairs, U.N. Foundation vice president Peter Yeo and former Director of The Global Fund Mark Dybul, MD, broke down the elements and imperatives of a process underway to develop a better approach to pandemic preparedness. Currently in draft form, the “Pandemic Accord” is being shepherded by the World Health Organization at the behest of its 194 Member States after the global COVID-19 response called …
For hundreds of years, health care providers have been on the front lines of social change. Think Margaret Sanger, a nurse who championed women’s rights and started the organization that later became Planned Parenthood, or Max Recamier, one of the physician founders of Doctors Without Borders, who openly worked against governments fomenting …
I sat knee-to-knee with a nurse practitioner at a school-based clinic in rural Ohio. Choking back tears, she described a patient she couldn’t get out of her head: a middle-school girl, accompanied by her mother and a social worker. Just days prior, the girl was dropped off at her father’s home for the weekend. Before the promised Friday night football game, she discovered him unconscious on the bathroom floor. Within …
I was on my honeymoon in Colombia when I first became aware of the true extent of my post-traumatic stress disorder. My husband and I were walking across a smooth, granite platform to take a closer look at a fountain in downtown Cartagena. As we neared the structure, mist from the fountain’s jets dampened the ground …
I’ve been single for nearly a decade. A career-driven professional, juggling parenting, PTA, and post-graduate studies, my time is precious.
But there’s something about this season — the heart-shaped Valentines and assorted chocolates — that has a way of evoking a longing for love. So this year, bowing to the goading of friends and against my better judgment, I decided to do something I never — never — thought I’d try.
I …
A few years ago, as numbers of burnout, depression, and suicide among physicians continued to rise, the notion of “joy in medicine” was conceived. From conferences and books, to support groups and consultants, another health care-related industry popped up around improving provider satisfaction and fostering workplace wellness. It was well-intentioned, as these things often are, but like the familiar adage about roads and good intentions, joy in medicine seems poised …
Dear Shonda Rhimes, the brilliant mind behind my favorite television show,
We need to talk about “Grey’s Anatomy.”
I’m a fan. A really, really big fan. The kind of fan who — in the last 48 hours — rewatched all of last season’s episodes to prepare for the season premiere, and who has blocked off every Thursday night this …
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
