Island Med Student

Physicians for Human Rights stands in solidarity with the people of Haiti today and every day. We offer our deep concern for the struggling survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti and our profound sympathy for the families of the as yet uncounted victims.

You can make a difference for Haiti – take action today:

— If you are a health professional, your special skills are urgently needed to save lives. Consider joining the relief effort in Haiti today. Partners In Health has put out a call for surgeons, nurses, and other health professionals: “send an email to with information on your credentials, language capabilities (Haitian Creole or French desired), availability and contact information.”

— Take 2 minutes to take action to support the US Haitian community. Urge President Obama to have the Department of Homeland Security provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) NOW to Haitians currently in the United States.

TPS is granted by the US government to eligible nationals of countries who cannot safely return to their homelands because of armed conflict, environmental disaster or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.

Haiti clearly fits this description.The earthquake has devastated Haiti, leaving little for immigrants to go back to: no shelter, no food, no water, no medical services and no infrastructure.

PHR welcomes the decision of the Obama Administration to halt the pending deportation of some 30,000 Haitians. We believe that, given Haiti’s lack of capacity to safely accept any returnees at this time, the Administration should take the next step and grant TPS on an expedited basis to all Haitians who are in the US at this time and are in need of temporary protection.

Granting TPS will allow Haiti to focus on recovery and disaster relief without the additional difficulty of dealing with potentially homeless returnees.

Ask President Obama to act TODAY. We must unite as a nation in solidarity with the people of Haiti – both those struggling to survive in the earthquake ravaged Caribbean and those here in the United States.

Check out my post on Medscape to read about my recent experience getting up close and personal with the pro-lifers.

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Check out my post on Medscape to learn about the tragedies I’ve encountered in my clinical rotations. Also (as always) please do fell free to leave comments on the post, as I appreciate and enjoy all the variety of reactions….

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I wanted to thank everyone for all of their helpful comments on my recent post about my surgery evaluation. I’ve since come to accept the grade and have vowed from now on to always seek guidance from my higher-ups as to their expectations of my performance. Also, I couldn’t help but notice one theme running through the majority of the comments, and that’s the advice to just accept my grade by chalking it up to the ambiguity of the grading policies. Since receiving a “B” is a relatively minor incident in the grand scheme of things, I don’t feel bad accepting that advice, being happy with my grade, and moving on with things. However, it really got me thinking (and a few commenters pointed this out) about what it means to accept things because “that’s just the way it is.”

In life, we all have to pick our battles. The world is full of unfairness, rules that don’t make sense, inequalities, and things that just aren’t what we think they should be. Most of the time, I just accept all of this to the best of my ability. But sometimes I witness inequalities or injustices that are so egregious, I can’t just sit back and say nothing. These are the times when I take a stand about what I believe is right. I’d like to believe that I do this more often than most people, but that’s probably just wishful thinking.

But what if we all just said, “that’s just the way it is” about everything? Think about how history would be changed. Black people would be forced to give up their seats on American buses had Rosa Parks not decided to take a stand. Doctors wouldn’t be washing their hands after performing autopsies if Dr. Semmelweis had simply bowed to the popular notions of his time. Didn’t smallpox seem impossible to eradicate before Edward Jenner developed a vaccine?

I guess my point is that, while sometimes it is necessary to accept that things are unchangeable, the world seems like a much larger place, with more possibilities, if we instead reject all notions of immutability and decide to take a stand against things we believe are not right.

In that vein, here is a list of medically-related ideas that are viewed by many people as unchangeable facts:

• Physicians can never be replaced by computers.
• Doctors can’t have pink mohawks.
• Patients will never completely comply with their treatment.
• Medical school has to be grueling.
• It’s impossible for everyone in the world to receive equal and high quality healthcare.
• Cancer is unavoidable.
• Medical education has to be expensive.
• Doctors don’t have enough time to give their “all” to every patient.
• Kendra will never stop complaining about everything.
• Mortality is a certainty.

Perhaps we are just simply farther away from achieving the ones that seem completely ridiculous. After all, isn’t it easier to imagine being hit by a train if you can see a glimpse of the engine on the horizon?

Click Here To View the Original Post on Medscape

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I am lucky enough to have the day off. Since I have an exam tomorrow, I decided to come to Manhattan to get some studying in. Unfortunately, it seems that I am always searching endlessly for places with free WiFi. This really shouldn’t be so difficult! Now that I’ve finally found it, Micah wants to go home. I can’t win!

Anyway, I only wish MLK Jr. was around for tomorrow. How awesome would it be if he could witness the first black American president?! I wish I could go down to DC for the inauguration, but I have to go to the hospital tomorrow. I can’t believe as of tomorrow, we will finally be rid of Bush! Sadly, it will take many years to undo the harm that he has done. But at least we can start.

Thanks to Brashlion, whose blog I found this on. Please watch this, everyone. I don’t think I have ever heard anything said so well. This brought tears to my eyes.

Yes, today will definitely go down in the books of American history, regardless of the results of the election. All of my friends are out celebrating, and I am stuck home alone fighting a nasty cold.

I’ll be downing some Theraflu in a few moments, and I’ll probably be drifting off to sleep within an hour or two.

The picture above is the current status of the election results. While the world anxiously awaits the announcement of the next president of the United States of America, I will be snoring away in my comfy bed, battling post-nasal drip. I probably won’t find out the results until tomorrow.

I tried to absentee vote, but alas, the system won, and I couldn’t figure out a way to successfully do so. So, I am in New York, and sadly, I didn’t vote. I am so embarassed to admit that.

If you know me, or if you don’t, I’m sure you can guess who I’m crossing my fingers for to win.

Good luck to him. Good luck to this country. Good luck to my body’s battle with this cold. Good night.

This morning, an article in the Baltimore Sun really caught my eye. The article described a new pharmacy opening up in Virginia that has decided not to offer any form of birth control for sale. I was shocked to find out that this pharmacy is actually located very close to a town that I lived in during my undergrad years, and hence the article really hit close to home for me (literally).

The debate over pharmacists’ right to refuse to sell birth control pills based on religious views has been going on for years now. Some states have passed laws defending this right, while others require pharmacists to offer birth control, regardless of their religious beliefs. For years, the American Medical Association (AMA) has been battling the American Pharmacists Association’s policy, which states that pharmacists should not have to “engage in activity to which they object.” The AMA has voted to support legislation requiring pharmacists to either fill prescriptions or refer the patient to a pharmacy that will.

I support the AMA’s actions to protect patients’ access to pharmaceuticals, but the issue is much broader than just drugs. What about a patient’s right to have access to medical treatments? What about a doctor’s responsibility to provide care to all patients? This is, of course, a very heated debate, and is a sensitive subject for many.

The Differential’s Thomas Robey wrote an article that touched on the subject of a physician’s responsibility to provide therapies to patients. The debate is very old, and I can only offer a small amount of insight in this short article. But, it’s something that I feel strongly about, and I wanted to give an opportunity to others to air their opinions on this important subject.

In the AMA’s Code of Ethics, it states that a physician must “refrain from denying treatment to your patient because of a judgement based on discrimination.” But, the Code of Ethics also states that, “when a personal moral judgement or religious belief alone prevents you from recommending some form of therapy, inform your patient so that they may seek care elsewhere.”

Here comes my very provocative question. Where is the line between denying a patient care, such as prescribing birth control or even offering an abortion, and denying a patient care because a personal moral judgement or religious belief prevents you from doing so? If I deny a patient care because they are black, is that discrimination? Most people would say yes. If I deny a patient an abortion because it violates my religious beliefs, is that within my right? Perhaps many people would say yes. But what about denying a homosexual couple access to in vitro fertilization therapy because your religion doesn’t condone homosexuality? Would this be considered denying care because of discrimination, or is the physician’s right to deny treatment protected, because of their religious beliefs?

The waters are clearly murky. What do you think?

Click Here To View the Original Post on Medscape

As always, I agree with Sarah Silverman wholeheartedly. Everyone MUST watch this. I guarantee it will also bring pee to your pants.

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

New York Governor Spitzer, why would you ever think of getting a prostitute in the District of Columbia? This being my former home, I’m all too aware of the number of high-profile cases of politicians hiring prostitutes in the District. Did you not learn your lesson from the DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey? Was DC’s former mayor, Marion Barry’s prosecution for smoking crack with a prostitute not memorable enough for you?

Here’s a tip for all politicians out there. If you have to hire a prostitute, avoid the nation’s capital!

Oh yeah, and if you’re a politician in a bathroom stall, you might want to avoid tapping your foot no matter where you are.

Note: To be clear, I am not against prostitution in the least. I actually think it should be legalized for many reasons. And I have no problem with politicians hiring prostitutes. But they should let their families know. And of course, they have to deal with the media and public opinion more than us regular folks…