Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List

Editor’s note: “Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List” is a monthly roundup where we share some of the most compelling health care narratives driving the news and conversation in recent weeks. In this month’s Narrative Matters essay, former Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Louis Sullivan writes about growing up in rural Georgia and entering medical school as the only black student in his class. Sullivan graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1958 with only $500 in debt — hard to fathom when, today, med students might finish school owing some $150,000 to $250,000. Sullivan reflects on what’s needed to make medical education more affordable and thus enable more minorities to become doctors and other health professionals. You can also listen to the essay on our podcast. Here’s what else is on our reading list: Johns Hopkins pediatrician Tafadzwa Kasambira writes a brief, emotional account of watching a seven-year-old patient die of meningitis, in the Washingtonian. Annie Brewster and Leah Meyer write about Colleen Lum, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer a decade ago and has now decided to stop treatment and face death, for WBUR in Boston. “After years of intrusive treatment, harsh side effects, and approximately 160 rounds of chemotherapy, Lum knew in April that it was time to stop,” Brewster and Meyer write. “Her body had had enough.” Martin Kuz writes about veterans lost to suicide—and their surviving ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Elsewhere@ Health Affairs Featured Narrative Matters On Our Reading List opioids Veterans Source Type: blogs