What a year this week was, right? I'm a little breathless just thinking about how much my STAT colleagues reported on this week.
At First Opinion, I'm trying to balance the gush of news with important topics that may be getting drowned out. So I published a crucial op-ed by former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served during the first Trump administration, arguing that the discussion about DEI — especially as it applies to medicine — requires more nuance. He writes: "Should we stop collecting data on breast or prostate cancer because it means directing resources based on gender? Should we ignore rural health care disparities or the unique medical challenges veterans face? Acknowledging and exploring our diversity helps address disparities, ultimately improving the overall health care system."
But I also published a valuable essay by Sherrie Page Guyer arguing that the best way to keep students safe is to make sure their school has a full-time nurse: "Increasing school access points to getting help for psychiatric distress before it escalates is a better use of crisis prevention funds than the nearly two-thirds of the school resource officers (SROs) who roam the halls with a secured firearm."
I'll keep striving for that balance. In particular, when it comes to the news, I'm looking for surprising, heterodox op-eds that can drive the conversation rather than just become part of the background noise. Got ideas? Email me.
Recommendation of the week: On The Cut, Fortesa Latifi reveals that (and this makes me feel old) it has been 16 years since MTV first aired "16 and Pregnant," a show that some research suggests may have contributed to a drop in teen pregnancy rates. Some of the girls who appeared on "16 and Pregnant" have been on MTV ever since — and though they are now in their 30s, as Latifi writes, the world still sees them as teenagers.
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