The Medical Care Blog regularly welcomes and features the voices of students from public health, medicine and other health professional fields. Most of our student contributors are earlier in their careers than the health care providers, public health professionals, and academic researchers who contribute to our dialogue most often. But they are frequently experts in their fields.
Students write from the forefront of their respective fields
Our student contributors have often spent years deeply engaged in a topic, working right at the cutting edge of academic research. Medical and physician assistant student contributors are learning skills at the forefront of medical practice, and often encountering the medical system problems (that inspired their writing) with relatively fresh eyes.
Their work, in fact, is typically indistinguishable from the ideas and writing of other contributors. Because of this, we do not make a point of identifying their student status.
We have just launched a new student blog competition sponsored by the Medical Care Section of the American Public Health Association. So I thought it was high time that we highlight some of the outstanding student voices that have been featured at The Medical Care Blog.
A few standout voices
Nicole Pereira, a doctoral student in public health at UCLA, has been a regular contributor to our blog. We look to her for posts for creative ideas on health care payment strategies. She has written most frequently about the payment for maternal and child health services. But one of her most useful contributions was a synopsis of how health systems embrace value-based payments and the challenges this poses.
Raj Fadadu, both a public health student at UC Berkeley and medical student at UCSF, was one of our first contributors on issues related to the environment and medical care. He has written about the lessons we can draw from COVID-19 for the larger battle of climate change. His other post was the about the California wildfires and their impact on health and health care delivery. He rightly elevates the discussion to consider how we should be building climate-resilient health systems.
Aishwarya Rajagopalan, as a medical student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, has written about contraception and maternity care. She wrote a timely plea for action on a proposed federal rule that redefined how organizations claim “moral or religious exemption” from offering contraception in employee health insurance plans. She wrote an equally convincing perspective on an article published in Medical Care that found experiencing discrimination to be a major barrier to postpartum care.
A wide range of unique student contributions
Many other student voices have been featured in our pages.
Earlier this year, Bobbie Johannes, then a 5th year PhD student, wrote a post about rural health as part of her work as a 2019-20 Medical Care Section Barbara Starfield Scholar. Her summary of the problems in rural areas that can lead to disparities was a prescient post considering the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on rural health systems.
We have featured the brilliant writing of Deborah Bergman, then a physician assistant student. She observed the often obscene prices of medical care in the US health care system, pointing about how absurd it is that “the price of lifesaving medical care could be negotiable.”
Haley Nelson, then a social work doctoral student, offered a novel vision for funding nurses in California schools. She asked readers to consider “What is a nurse’s office without a nurse?” and then described how a state law could be used to direct funding to better nursing support for mental health.
Kevin Fang, then a practicing pediatrician pursuing his Masters of Public Health, wrote an engaging analysis of the emerging field of Adverse Childhood Experiences. He described the experience of chronic stress as the “bear in the living room”, an image that stays with me today.
And going back to 2016, Nneze Eluka, then a doctoral student, wrote a thoughtful summary of her experience attending the American Public Health Association annual meeting. Her perspective on meeting colleagues, networking, strolling the posters and exhibits makes me long for the time when we can all gather together again.
What does it take for students to write a great blog?
As you can see, we welcome student voices at The Medical Care Blog. If you are considering writing for us, you may be wondering whether you have the right credentials or right perspective for a submission. Here are a few thoughts about what it takes to publish with us:
- Write about what you know about (authenticity and standing matter).
- Focus on an interesting “big idea” or unique perspective (help us think differently).
- Involve your personal experience or own research (your voice matters).
- Make your key point at the beginning and then support it. Be direct and succinct.
We look forward to continuing to support student voices. Remember, the student blog competition closes on January 31.
Gregory Stevens