Isabel Chen and Jamar Slocum join us to discuss the history of American medical education and how its evolution has maintained injustice. They speak about prestige, research dollars, medical school rankings, race, admissions, wealth and power, health disparities, and the long shadow of the 1910 Flexner Report that laid the foundation of the current system. They also share how justice-informed movements like the Beyond Flexner Alliance are attempting to rattle the paradigm and recenter care, love, and justice as the ‘social mission’ of medicine. Beyond Flexner Alliance (BFA) is a national movement, focused on health equity and training health professionals as agents of more equitable health care. This movement takes us beyond centuries-old conventions in health professions education to train providers prepared to build a system that is not only better, but fairer. The Beyond Flexner Alliance aims to promote social mission in health professions education by networking learners, teachers, community leaders, health policy makers and their organizations to advance equity in education, research, service, policy, and practice. Beyond Flexner Conference 2022 (March 28-30, 2022), Phoenix AZ: https://flexnerconference.org/ Isabel Chen MD MPH is a family medicine resident and Chief of Social Mission & Advocacy at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. She is a staunch advocate for social justice through the lens of health and medicine. She performs medical evaluations for asylum seekers in Southern California and is implementing a social determinants of health curriculum and patien screening tool for Kaiser Permanente. She founded the Keep Safe Initiative, a grassroots organization that develops panic alarms for sex-trade workers in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and co-founded The Reading Bear Society, a citywide early education that promotes inner-city health and literacy. She has servedon multiple boards including at Yale, UNESCO, UBC, APHA, CAFP, and STFM. Jamar Slocum MD MBA MPH is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the George Washington University (GW), where he practices hospital medicine and serves as faculty for the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity and Beyond Flexner Alliance. During the course of his career, he has combined his skills and experience in clinical medicine and public health to build a healthcare system that is based on equity and prevention. He is a former board member of the Tennessee Health Campaign, one of the leading non-profit advocacy organizations working to ensure affordable and high quality health care for all Tennesseans. Jamar completed his residency training in internal medicine at Brown University in Providence, RI and fellowship training in general preventive medicine at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins. Recommended Resources: Beyond Flexner Alliance website Mullan F, Chen C, Petterson S, et al. The Social Mission of Medical Education: Ranking the Schools. Ann Intern Med.2010;152:804-811. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-152-12-201006150-00009 Mullan F. White Coat, Clenched Fist: The Political Education of an American Physician (Ann Arbor: University of Mich. Press, 2006) Wright-Mendoza, J., 2019. The 1910 Report That Disadvantaged Minority Doctors. JSTOR Daily. bit.ly/3u2kMTI
SMOA Survey: bit.ly/SMOAsurvey In what ways do our personal biases seep into our conversations with others? How does the structure of our language impact the reception of the information we are trying to share? In the era of digital medicine and health misinformation, how can we ensure we are communicating effectively with our patients? Anne Marie Liebel attacks questions like these in today’s episode of SMOA. Dr. Liebel is the president of Health Communication Partners LLC, the host of the “10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication” podcast series, and the administrator of HealthCommunicationPartners.com. She is writing a book about health literacy from a critical social perspective. To learn more, check out: What Counts as Literacy in Health Literacy: Applying the Autonomous and Ideological Models of Literacy https://doi.org/10.21623/1.8.2.7
SMOA Survey: bit.ly/SMOAsurvey Raj Patel and Rupa Marya join on this episode to draw the links between physical inflammation, injustice, decolonizing medicine, and the relationship between human and non-human flourishing. They discuss environmental racism, political economy and capitalism, the way that inflammation modulates social and biological health, reductive Enlightenment science, the need for decolonized care, and what deep healing looks like. Their new book is Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice (2021). Raj Patel is an author, film-maker, activist, and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He has degrees from the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University, has worked for the World Bank and WTO, and protested against them around the world. He is the author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System and The Value of Nothing, as well as co-author of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things. He co-directed the documentary The Ants & The Grasshopper. Rupa Marya is a physician, activist, artist and writer who is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, the founder of the Do No Harm Coalition, and the founder and executive director of the Deep Medicine Circle, a worker-directed nonprofit committed to healing the wounds of colonialism through food, medicine, story, learning and restoration. In addition to her work in medicine and writing, Rupa is also the composer and front-woman for Rupa and the April Fishes. Animation Video (3:18) for Inflamed: bit.ly/3B4Zp6y Video (28:28): Health and Justice: The Path of Liberation through Medicine (Rupa Marya): bit.ly/3a0xXLe Synopses of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2021): Prasad A, "Inflamed by Rupa Marya and Raj Patel review – Modern Medicine's Racial Divide," The Guardian (2021), bit.ly/3nQWUkp Jones S, "The Public Body: How Capitalism Made The World Sick," The Nation (2021), bit.ly/3lLHlYu (Disclaimer: at the request of the podcast, two free pre-print copies of the book were supplied by FSG in preparation for this episode)
Content warning: today's episode discusses domestic violence. We also appreciate your patience with this episode as we know it is a few weeks behind our usual schedule! Thank you all for your support. Short SMOA listener story: bit.ly/smoasurvey In this episode, Anna Mullany discusses the interrelationship between domestic abuse, capitalism and political economy, patriarchy, and the teaching of social medicine. She discusses the history of the anti-domestic violence movement, the violence of the state, the rise of the carceral state, and the 'social problem apparatus.' She also shares stories from students learning about structural violence and social medicine in the classroom. In combining the micro and macro, she points a way towards emancipation for all. Anna Mullany is a 4th year doctoral student at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of MA Amherst. The focus of her doctoral work is on rural intimate partner violence and social services. Taking a political economic perspective, she looks at how the structural determinants of health determine people's wellbeing and daily lives within capitalism. She is committed to investigating how we create a truly equitable world in which health for all is a reality. She teaches courses on "Health Communication" and "Population Health and Imperialism" to undergraduates in the Public Health Department at UMass Amherst. Additionally, she is on faculty with the Spark Teacher Education Institute in Brattleboro, VT. Prior to her doctoral studies she worked for 6 years at the Women’s Freedom Center in Brattleboro, VT – a crisis center responding to intimate partner violence. Anna also serves as a one of the hosts of Indigo Radio, a weekly radio show on the Brattleboro Community Radio Station WVEW, broadcasts of which focus on connecting local and global issues. Recommended Resources: Harvey M. How Do We Explain the Social, Political, and Economic Determinants of Health? A Call for the Inclusion of Social Theories of Health Inequality Within U.S.-Based Public Health Pedagogy. Pedagogy in Health Promotion. 2020;6(4):246-252. bit.ly/3iNgzNX Gimenez, M. Capitalism and the Oppression of Women: Marx Revisited. Science & Society, 2005;69(1), 11-32. bit.ly/3kTxbGA Waitzkin, H. "The Social Origins of Illness: A Neglected History" in The Second Sickness: Contradictions of Capitalist Health Care (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000). bit.ly/3eUsJU5 Brown TM, Fee E. Rudolf Carl Virchow: medical scientist, social reformer, role model. Am J Public Health. 2006;96(12):2104-5. bit.ly/3x5cObK Indigo Radio, bit.ly/3kU4iu3 Spark Teacher Education, bit.ly/3BBRcr7
Link to SMOA listener survey: bit.ly/SMOAsurvey We're joined today by the incredible Agnes Binagwaho, who speaks with us about gender equity and religion before, during, and after the colonial era, the positive power of institutions like the University of Global Health Equity, the importance of teaching leadership and implementation science, and the importance of good systems in care for the most vulnerable. She talks about demystifying healthcare systems, explaining how Rwanda has seen some of the fastest declines in mortality in human history, the importance of human rights, and the importance of trust, accountability, and community (including community health workers). "Tell the truth!" Agnes Binagwaho MD, M(Ped), PhD is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity, the former Minister of Health of Rwanda and former Professor of Global Health Equity at UGHE. She also is a trained pediatrician, Senior Lecture at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a member of the US National Academy of Medicine and the African Academy of Sciences, and was Co-Chair of the UN task force on the Millennium Development Goals Project for HIV/AIDS and Access to Essential Medicines (among many, many other positions). Resources related to this episode: A. Binagwaho "How Women are Revolutionizing Rwanda" (TED Talk, 2020), bit.ly/3w5hOxB A. Binagwaho "Lessons from Rwanda's Journey to an Equitable Health System" (TED Talk, 2017), bit.ly/3znfhRw Farmer P E et al. Reduced premature mortality in Rwanda: lessons from success. BMJ 2013, bit.ly/2TSvuOj Binagwaho A et al. Rwanda 20 years on: investing in life. Lancet 2014, bit.ly/3cv7N58
Self-described "militant anthropologist" Professor Adrienne Pine speaks with us today about the 2009 coup in Honduras. We discuss the Washington Consensus, hybrid wars, embodied somatic solidarity, and explore the role that nurses played as agents of change and healing during the coup in 2009. Dr. Pine also shares her own journey with us, and talks about how she has balanced the extractive demands of neoliberal academia with bodily solidarity with the people she has worked with around the world, and how she's further balanced this with being a mother. Her recommended article, discussed during this episode: Pine A (2013), Revolution as a care plan: ethnography, nursing and somatic solidarity in Honduras. Soc Sci Med. 99:143-152. bit.ly/3voxDyZ Also check out Dr. Pine's recent edited book, Asylum For Sale: Profit and Protest in the Migration Industry (Oakland: PM Press, 2020), where she breaks down the disaster capitalist network of players who benefit off the chronic transmigration of displaced persons. Super relevant!
(Short Audience Survey: bit.ly/SMOAsurvey) Jamarah Amani (@jamarahAA) shares how her work and activism as a midwife fights racism and injustice. She shares her own birth story and ancestors, the racial violence in the history of birth in the United States, obstetric violence, the Birth Justice Bill of Rights, health disparities, community members as healthcare designers, being able to unapologetically be one's whole self, queer midwives and midwifery, incarceration, shackling, prison doulas, the ways in which social work can collude with the mass incarceration system, and how midwifery chose her. Jamarah Amani, LM is a community midwife building a movement for Birth Justice. A community organizer since the age of sixteen, she has locally, nationally, and globally worked on HIV prevention, maternal and infant mortality, and access to emergency contraception and midwifery care. She is currently the director of the Southern Birth Justice Network, and the National Black Midwives Alliance. Jamarah is the 2019 recipient of the Trailblazer Award from the City of Miami. SBJN's Birth Justice Bill of Rights, bit.ly/3hkMVRb Southern Birth Justice Network, bit.ly/3blrfkc National Black Midwives Alliance, bit.ly/3oaj5A6
Huge thanks to all our listeners for supporting us through a successful first season of Social Medicine On Air! Tune in to hear Jonas, Brendan, and Raghav chat about what they learned in the last year, and what they are working on next. The team is hard at work on Season 2, with a whole new team of faces and personalities, and we absolutely cannot wait to share it all with you soon!! PLEASE reach out to us with thoughts/questions/ideas/concerns, we would be so grateful to hear from you at SocialMedicineOnAir@gmail.com With gratitude to our amazing audience, Jonas, Brendan, Raghav
Cole Allick joins us today to talk about tribal healthcare in the United States, how to pursue Indigenous sovereignty in health systems, and changing narratives about Indigenous life and history. He shares about the I-T-U (Indian Health Service, Tribally-run, and urban) system of healthcare delivery, Indigenous renaissance, underfunding and creativity in Indigenous healthcare systems, the implications of Tribal enrollment, North Dakota, Indigenous wisdom as a 'radical act' instead of as a 'radical Other,' the importance of Indigenous spaces, and democratically designing clinical spaces with Elders in mind. Cole Allick MHA is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and is currently a PhD student in Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota. He currently works with Washington Statue University as a Tribal Liaison and Outreach Coordinator at Partnerships for Native Health, working with WSU's medical school to create a rural, Tribal, and urban underserved Practice Based Research Network. He is passionate about Tribal sovereignty and healthcare delivery models across Indian Country. His recommended resources: Lucero, Esther. 2011. "From Tradition to Evidence: Decolonization of the Evidence-based Practice System." Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 43 (4), 319–324, doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2011.628925 Reclaiming Native Truth. 2018. "Changing the Narrative About Native Americans: A Guide For Allies." bit.ly/2OTqaYV. The rest of RNT's website also has helpful videos and resources. Secaira, Manola. 2019. "Abigail Echo-Hawk on the Art and Science of 'Decolonizing Data'." Crosscut. bit.ly/3cWOqRO
Apostolos Veizis (@AVeizis) offers a medical view from the frontlines of the ongoing refugee crisis, which as he explains, is not so much a "refugee crisis" as a crisis of logistics and lack of political will. We discuss the mental and physical health effects of life in overcrowded camps (in this case in the Greek islands), how these conditions are created and exacerbated by cruel policies of deterrence, the true drivers of mass migration from Syria and elsewhere, COVID in the camps, the 2016 EU-Turkey deal, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as an example of a medical-humanitarian response to the crisis. Apostolos Veizis MD is the former Director of Medical Operational Support Unit of MSF Greece, and is presently the Executive Director of INTERSOS in Greece. He had worked as Head of Mission and Medical Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde(MDM) in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Albania, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, Turkey, and participated inassessment, emergency assignments and evaluations in Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Zambia, Malawi, Uzbekistan, North Macedonia, Cyprus and Tajikistan. He actively participates in international and national medical congresses and contributes to the literature on refugee issues and health. Recommended Resources: "Greece - Invisible Suffering of Migrants & Asylum Seekers | MSF" (2014, video), bit.ly/2PKgQ9J "Migration and Health: Medical and Humanitarian Assistance for People on the Move, MSF Experiences and Challenges" (2016, video), bit.ly/3v3aSkn "Apostolos Veizis: On the front line of the refugee and migrant crisis in Greece," WHO, bit.ly/3kVav72 Veizis, A (2020). "Commentary: 'Leave No One Behind' and Access to Protection in the Greek Islands in the COVID‐19 Era," International Migration 58(3), bit.ly/3v2742W
Shilpa Darivemula discusses the connection between traditional dance, medicine, trauma, and healing. She explains the way that traditional dance allows renarration of identity, how classical Indian dance can tell non-traditional stories, how pairing medicine and dance addresses inequities, the danger of instrumentalizing art, and how medical environments can be seen as places of art. Shilpa Darivemula is a resident physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Creative Director of the Aseemkala Initiative. Shilpa began training in Kuchipudi at the age of 8 at the Academy of Kuchipudi Dance and performed her solo debut recital—her Rangapravesham—in 2011 at the Kalanidhi Dance school. She continues to perform medical narratives, conduct research and address racial and social inequity in healthcare through her work with the Aseemkala Initiative. Her recommended resources: Aseemkala Initiative, "Mahavidyas in Medicine," bit.ly/2OWeOCU Shilpa Darivemula and Roshni Prakash, "Performing My First Caesarean: A Reflection on the Intersection of Dance and Surgery," The Intima, bit.ly/3dFiEuz Shilpa Darivemula (2020). "Addressing OB/GYN Care Access for Refugee Women Using Traditional Dance Exchanges," BMJ Medical Humanities Blog, bit.ly/2NwC2iI Mallika Sarabhai (2009). "Dance to Change the World," TEDIndia, bit.ly/3uk3cKl Kavita Ramdas (2009). "Radical Women, Embracing Tradition," TEDIndia, bit.ly/2Nv78Hm Krieger, N (2005). "Embodiment: a conceptual glossary for epidemiology," J Epidemiol Community Health, bit.ly/37HZjoJ Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Saludarte, bit.ly/2NPT0Zk Alice Proujansky (2019). "The Black Midwives Changing Care for Women of Color (Photo Essay)," The Guardian, bit.ly/3dMIIDU "Spirit of Birth (film)," Working It Out Together: A Magazine for Contemporary, bit.ly/3dG9fTE
Nicole Redvers (@DrNicoleRedvers) joins us to speak about Indigenous ways of knowing, the necessity for protecting Indigenous lands and ways of life, and the necessity for integration of traditional knowledge and Western science in the pursuit of human and planetary health. She discusses the need for truth-telling and reconciliation; how Indigenous communities have resisted colonialism, extraction, and exploitation across Turtle Island; and how reciprocal knowledge is a gift. Dr. Nicole Redvers ND MPH is a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation and has worked with various Indigenous patients and communities around the globe helping to bridge the gap between traditional and modern medical systems. She is co-founder and chair of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation based in the Canadian North, winning a $1 million dollar prize for work with homeless and at-risk people in northern Canada. She is actively involved in international efforts ot include indigenous perspectives in planetary health and sustainable healthcare education (SHE), and sits on a number of national and international committees. Se is the author of The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles (North Atlantic Books, 2019) and is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Dakota. Her recommended resources: Redvers N, Blondin B (2020). "Traditional Indigenous medicine in North America: A scoping review." PLoS ONE, bit.ly/3p1MP0Z Redvers N, Schultz C, Prince MV, Cunningham M, Jones R (2020). "Indigenous perspectives on education for sustainable healthcare." Med. Teach. bit.ly/2YXnhHO Redvers, Nicole. The Science of the Sacred: Bridging Global Indigenous Medicine Systems and Modern Scientific Principles. North Atlantic Books, 2019. bit.ly/3a53OeC Redvers N, Yellow Bird M, Quinn D, Yunkaporta T, Arabena K (2020). "Molecular Decolonization: An Indigenous Microcosm Perspective of Planetary Health." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. bit.ly/2OcPpED Rooted Messages (website), bit.ly/3cWFNIB Resources mentioned during the show: Cultural Survival and the International Indian Treaty Council, "Respecting Our Traditional Science and Ways of Knowing: Indigenous Peoples’ Sovereignty, Lifeways, and Climate Change,” bit.ly/3cZTBlr Redstone Statement (2010, pdf), bit.ly/2OqyVsN Schaefer, Carol. Grandmothers Counsel the World: Women Elders Offer Their Vision for Our Planet. Trumpeter, 2006. bit.ly/3cZTYMR
Eugene Richardson (@real_ironist) joins us to discuss how global public health continues to use colonial frameworks for understanding health and disease, including for COVID-19 and Ebola modeling, and the need for reparations for health equity. He discusses how desocialized statistics support an unjust status quo, and how better forms of knowing can lead towards a world of justice. Eugene Richardson MD PhD is an infectious disease physician and anthropologist who previously served as the clinical lead for Partners In Health’s Ebola response in Kono District, Sierra Leone, and has worked with the WHO and Africa CDC coordinating infectious disease response. His research focuses on biosocial approaches to epidemic disease prevention, containment, and treatment in sub-Saharan Africa; as part of this effort, he is chair of the Lancet Commission on Reparations and Redistributive Justice. He recently released Epidemic Illusions: On the Coloniality of Global Public Health (MIT Press, 2020): bit.ly/3cdhB4h. His recommended resources: Schwab, Tim (2020). "Are Bill Gates’s Billions Distorting Public Health Data?", The Nation: bit.ly/3pnPIu1 Mbembe, Achille (2008). "What is Postcolonial Thinking? An Interview with Achille Mbembe", Eurozine: bit.ly/39kqjvP Richardson, Eugene (2020). "Colonizer, Interrupted", Democratic Left: bit.ly/3iSPkBh Vannini, Phillip (2008). "Critical Pragmatism," in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, ed. Lisa M. Given: bit.ly/2NDX3Yx
Important content that didn't make it into the hour-long episode. Listen to Osama Tanous discuss the danger of "othering," the history of the idea of Zionism, the challenges of talking about Palestine, and more.
Osama Tanous joins us to speak of the medical impacts of life in the long occupation of Palestine. We discuss what 'settler colonialism' is, the challenge of apolitical 'humanitarian' approaches, the political-medical-historical-economic connection, and the way that Palestine exemplifies the medical effects of structural violence. Osama Tanous MD is a Palestinian pediatrician based in Haifa and is in the late stages of his Masters in Public Health from Tel Aviv University. He is currently a Fulbright Hubert Humphrey fellow in public health and health policies. Osama is a researcher for the Galilee society and a clinical instructor at the Technion. His research interests include structural violence, settler colonialism and health disparities. Related Resources: Osama Tanous, "The Dilemmas of Practicing Humanitarian Medicine in Gaza," MERIP, bit.ly/3bzcY4b The Red Nation webinar, "Friday Night Forums 5: Palestine and the Blockade on Gaza w/ Osama Tanous, Noura Erakat & Ziad Abbas", bit.ly/38wdMVz Jewish Voices for Peace's Health Advisory Council webinar with Osama Tanous, bit.ly/3qfwXZZ Osama Tanous, "A New Episode of Erasure in the Settler Colony," Critical Times In the Midst (blog), bit.ly/3i3FiNm Osama Tanous, "Coronavirus outbreak in the time of apartheid," Al Jazeera, bit.ly/3nCBGTH Osama Tanous, "COVID-19: Health Disparities Put Palestinians inside Israel at Risk," Institute for Palestine Studies, bit.ly/3sgcxSl Osama Tanous, "When Pandemics Hit Militarized Urban Spaces," Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, bit.ly/2LDZc5A
Podcast crossover episode! Harriet and Max, hosts of the "It's Not Just In Your Head" podcast, join us today to discuss mental health, how capitalism accelerates inequality and social breakdown, and how most approaches to mental health care support neoliberal individualism. They explain the connection between personal and social liberation, our need for one another, the value and pitfalls of medication-based approaches, the need for a strong labor movement and organizing, and how mental health is inextricably bound to social conditions. "It's Not Just In Your Head" is a podcast with Harriet Fraad (@harrietfraad) and Max Golding, two mental health professionals who explore how our capitalist economic system impacts our emotional lives, from precarious housing and employment, to unaffordable healthcare, to endless debt -- it's not just in your head! Dr. Harriet Fraad is a mental health counselor and activist in New York City with over 45 years of experience, who writes and speaks on the intersection of politics, economics, and personal life; her work can be found at harrietfraad.com. Max Golding is a licenced marriage and family therapist from California who is interested in tenant and labor organizing, and connecting the struggle for mental health with other struggles for justice and liberation. Their recommended resources: Mark Fisher. (2009). Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Winchester, UK: Zero Books. Capitalism Hits Home (podcast) with Dr. Harriet Fraad & Julianna Forlano, link Kate Pickett & Wilkinson, Richard. (2010). The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone. London: Penguin Books.
Curious about the hosts of the show? First, listen to Howard Waitzkin's episode from last week, then catch him here turning the tables on the hosts. We discuss our backgrounds, imposter syndrome, our paths to medicine, class, priviledge, accompaniment, spirituality, liberation theology, and the roots of social medicine in South America. Resources relating to this episode: Howard Waitzkin, “Is Our Work Dangerous? Should It Be?,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 39, no. 1 (1998): 7–17, bit.ly/2Jx4UoV TEDx Talks, The Success of Nonviolent Civil Resistance: Erica Chenoweth at TEDxBoulder, 2013, bit.ly/39SGocR. Clodovis Boff and Leonardo Boff, “A Concise History of Liberation Theology,” bit.ly/2LmHovz Paul Farmer and Gustavo Gutiérrez, In the Company of the Poor: Conversations Between Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez, ed. Michael P. Griffin and Jennie Weiss Block (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013), bit.ly/3gsaJQI Paul Farmer, “Sacred Medicine,” Sojourners Magazine; Washington (Washington, United States, Washington: Sojourners, January 2014), bit.ly/3n1zhCF
Howard Waitzkin speaks with us today about reimagining life and medicine after capitalism. A humble giant in the field of social medicine, Howard helps to unpack how capitalism is destructive for the earth, for healthcare systems, and for social life. How can individuals and communities work towards non-violent, "rinky-dink" action against the systems which are destroying us? Howard Waitzkin MD PhD is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology and former director of community medicine at the University of New Mexico, a prolific scholar and practitioner of social medicine, and a tireless activist across North and South America for universal and accessible healthcare. His own family background of poverty led him to life-long questions on inequality, public health, oppression, capitalism, and medicine. Resources written by Howard: Rinky-Dink Revolution: Moving Beyond Capitalism by Withholding Consent, Creative Constructions, and Creative Destructions, by Howard Waitzkin, (Ottawa: Daraja Press, 2020), bit.ly/2VsxyKj Howard Waitzkin, “Is Our Work Dangerous? Should It Be?,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 39, no. 1 (1998): 7–17, bit.ly/2Jx4UoV Howard Waitzkin et al., “Social Medicine Then and Now: Lessons From Latin America,” American Journal of Public Health 91, no. 10 (October 2001): 1592–1601, bit.ly/39yHwC2 Howard Waitzkin, “One and a Half Centuries of Forgetting and Rediscovering: Virchow’s Lasting Contributions to Social Medicine,” Social Medicine 1, no. 1 (February 25, 2006): 5–10. bit.ly/2I0uh1E Out soon: Social Medicine and the Coming Transformation, by Howard Waitzkin, Alina Pérez, Matt Anderson (New York: Routledge, 2020) bit.ly/2JI2JPm
Today we hear from Leena Yumeen and Maria Pennella, and discuss the importance of accountability in global health funding. They explain the importance of advocacy in influencing these systems and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of not backsliding on the fight against global killers like tuberculosis. Leena Yumeen is an Advocacy Fellow with the Fund for Global Health, an organization focused on increasing the effectiveness of global health programs and international health aid through research and lobbying. She is pursuing a Bachelors in Political Science at Columbia University, and has also worked with Partners in Health on congressional lobbying and citizen outreach. Maria Pennella received her bachelors in health sciences from the University of Central Florida. Since graduating in 2018, she has worked for a cultural exchange program in Tanzania and become involved as an Advocacy Fellow with the Fund for Global Health. “Thinking Globally, Acting Locally”, is her guiding quote that pushed her to get involved in lobbying for equitable global health funding and policies within US Congress. Their recommended resources: Farrer L, Marinetti C, Cavaco YK, Costongs C. Advocacy for health equity: a synthesis review. Milbank Q. 2015;93(2):392-437. Full Text. Mandavilli, A. (2020) '‘The Biggest Monster’ Is Spreading. And It’s Not the Coronavirus.’, The New York Times, 3 August. Article. WHO Tuberculosis & Covid-19 Q&A: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/tuberculosis-and-the-covid-19-pandemic The Fund for Global Health on accountability and outcomes reporting: https://www.fundforglobalhealth.org/outcomes-reporting
Tanvi Avasthi (@tanvicious) speaks with us today about narrative therapy, loss and trauma, and the power of asking "what do you want?" to recenter our patients as protagonists of their own lives. She explains how we can avoid pathologizing our patients and ourselves, and how we can resist the forces of white supremacy and capitalism which are attempting to destroy us and make us hate ourselves. She shows us a way of beautifully holding the humanity, justice, and poetry of healing together. SMOA producer Raghav Goyal joins this conversation as cohost. Tanvi holds masters degrees in Medical Anthropogy and in Nursing and currently works as an ER nurse in Batimore, and is a future Midwife and Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. In addition to her clinical work, she also has experience working as a doula and yoga instructor, and we know her through her work as one of the co-founders of the Campaign Against Racism, an activist group with chapters all around the world, that is using tools of restorative justice, narrative therapy, and community organizing to effect local and systems wide change. Her recommended resources: Narrative Medicine Suggested Questions (PDF), bit.ly/2I14rdN Narrative Therapy slides (Campaign Against Racism online presentation, Tanvi Avasthi, 2020), bit.ly/2Gt1h1X Charon R, Wyer P; NEBM Working Group. Narrative evidence based medicine. Lancet. 2008 Jan 26;371(9609):296-7. bit.ly/389Aweb Kleinman A, Benson P. Anthropology in the clinic: the problem of cultural competency and how to fix it. PLoS Med. 2006 Oct;3(10):e294. bit.ly/2JunJZy