closer look
Opinion: The gift of practicing medicine at a predominantly Black institution
Adobe
In early 2020, emergency medicine physician Uché Blackstock wrote a viral essay for STAT about why Black doctors like her were leaving academic medical institutions (the short answer: racism). A few weeks ago, medical student David Velasquez wrote about his own personal experience with both the promise and the pitfalls of diversity and inclusion efforts in hospitals.
For people who think a lot about racial disparities in health care, narratives like these can feel frustratingly familiar. But in a new First Opinion, nephrologist Vanessa Grubbs focuses on the positive, explaining why she loves practicing at her predominantly Black institution.
"You have a big voice, Dr. Grubbs," the clinic manager told her once. "No," he clarified after seeing her flinch. "That's a good thing." Read more from Grubbs on what it looks like when a clinician has the freedom to be her authentic self at work with colleagues and patients.
Telehealth
Unfinished business at Teladoc after CEO's departure
Millions of Americans have come to rely on Teladoc to virtually attend to routine health care needs, thanks to the unprecedented public health lockdowns during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company's revenues skyrocketed to over $2 billion in 2021 and stocks crested at nearly $300 per share. But just as quickly as its stock went up, it crashed as growth and profits from virtual care didn't live up to pandemic-fueled hype.
In January, Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic dismissed a growing chorus of naysayers and expressed confidence in his company's trajectory. Barely three months later, Teledoc announced that the charismatic executive will be leaving the company. Mario Aguilar and Mohana Ravindranath spoke with analysts and officials who worked with Gorevic, who said the departure follows a series of missed financial projections, a precipitous decline in Teladoc's stock price, and an uninspired vision for its future. Read more on the company's missteps and Gorevic's complicated legacy.
mental health
More young people are having major depressive episodes. Fewer are receiving care.
Young people ages 12-17 are experiencing more major depressive episodes than ever before, and the gap between those who access medical care afterward and those who don't is widening, according to analysis by the nonprofit United Hospital Fund in a report published yesterday.
In 2010, more than 8,000 adolescents per 100,000 experienced an episode. By 2021, that number more than doubled to almost 20,000. But in any given year, less than 40% of those youths received care, and the rate of young people not receiving care rose by 8% from year to year. Without care, people can go on to develop problems with alcohol use, smoking, or conditions like high blood pressure in adulthood. There's also a financial cost, as these episodes can collectively lead to up to $185 billion in lifetime medical costs, per the report.
Despite the disheartening findings, I'm reminded of a 2022 First Opinion by psychiatrist Steven C. Schlozman about how we can't become hopeless about the magnitude of mental health issues young people face. When patients, clinicians, and families lose hope, "it becomes, in and of itself, a kind of nihilistic contagion," he said. "A spirit of optimism is more essential than ever."
No comments