J Natl Med Assoc
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Chronic Kidney disease (CKD) is more prevalent among women than men in the United States. This review highlights the important yet unique considerations that should be made in the care of women with kidney disease including psychosocial issues, preventive care and family planning. ⋯ Significance statement: The health of women with kidney disease has been understudied. This review offers insights on key areas in the management of women with kidney disease.
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Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous groups have carried the burden of COVID-19 disease in comparison to non-marginalized groups within the United States. It is important to examine the factors that have led to the observed disparities in COVID-19 risk, morbidity, and mortality. We described primary health care access within large US metropolitan cities in relation to COVID-19 rate, race/ethnicity, and income level and hypothesized that observed racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 rates are associated with health care provider number. ⋯ These results pose a concern in terms of pandemic progression into the next year and how these structural inequities have impacted and will impact vaccine distribution.
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Among the many academic challenges faced by dual-degree MD-PhD students is access to professional support networks designed to overcome the unique academic and personal barriers to physician-scientist training. In the current study, we hypothesized that regional access to a student MD-PhD conference, termed the Southeastern Medical Scientist Symposium (SEMSS), would enhance medical and/or graduate training by fostering such relationships between physician-scientist trainees, doing so by discussing both the challenges of physician-scientist training and effective strategies to overcome them. In the current study, we used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the overall usefulness of SEMSS over a ten-year period (2010-2020) to identify key areas of particular benefit to trainees. ⋯ Over the reporting period, SEMSS was attended by equivalent proportions of MD-PhD and undergraduate students, among which were a high-percentage of students from underrepresented minority (URM) groups relative to the national MD-PhD applicant pool; nearly one-third of URM students attendees later matriculated into MD-PhD programs, far exceeding the national MD-PhD matriculation rate. Among the benefits reported by students were "opportunities to network with peers" and opportunities to learn about the physician-scientist career track. Therefore, we therefore propose regional MD-PhD conferences as an effective model to promote diversity within the physician-scientist training pipeline.
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Racial disparities have been reported in post-stroke conditions such as aphasia, yet findings have been inconsistent. Prior studies have generally included small numbers of people of color for comparisons of outcome. Consequently, it is unclear if the racial disparities that are consistently observed in stroke, the primary cause of aphasia, parallel disparities in aphasia outcomes. ⋯ This study illustrates how more sophisticated statistical methods should be used to examine racial differences in aphasia and other communication outcomes particularly given differences commonly observed sociodemographic characteristics that are present in the primary cause of the disorders. Without careful analysis of data and consideration of its implications, researchers and clinicians will continue to ignore key differences in clinical populations that influence aphasia outcomes. More importantly, in order to grow knowledge in the field and a continue to improve clinical outcomes, the field must fully exploit tools of empirical analysis and focus their research on discovering, adapting and improving the lives of all individuals with aphasia.
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Critical Race Theory (CRT) has recently become a target of national attention due to recent Presidential Executive Orders and state and local governmental bodies banning its use in public school settings. However, such attention has only led to critical race theory being misconstrued by the media and misunderstood by the common lay person. Critical Race Theory is a specific pedagogical and theoretical approach to understand how racialized historical contexts influence contemporary society. ⋯ Ignoring historical and contemporary political and social influences of race and racism on health will only hinder the country's ability to narrow expanding gaps in racial/ethnic health disparities. Academic medicine has a professional and ethical responsibility to educate its trainees and health professionals on the history of medicine - including its ugly side - and to critically examine how historical and contemporary political and social factors have created racial/ethnic health disparities. Until such reckoning occurs the field of medicine's ability to achieve health equity for all will continue to be futile.