The American Medical Association, or AMA, is the largest association of physicians and medical trainees in the United States. This organization has also established itself as one of the most powerful political lobbying groups in the country, ranking third in dollars spent for this purpose over the last 20 years. Additionally, the AMA has a(...)
Events and Happenings
Tips for Attending an International Conference
Posted by | A Day in the Life, Events and HappeningsIn January, my thesis adviser asked me if I wanted to attend the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology meeting in Amsterdam, which is scheduled for this June. To date, this is the easiest question my adviser has ever asked me, and my answer was a resounding “yes.” In most ways, a scientific conference is basically(...)
Honoring the Past Year of Johns Hopkins Trainee Accomplishments
Posted by | Events and HappeningsBeing a Ph.D. student is like tandem skydiving for the first time: You are asked to enter the freefall into the scientific world below, with your principal investigator (PI) guiding your career path. You have no control over the journey, and you don’t even really know the endpoint because your PI is the only one(...)
On How and Why Science Is Political
Posted by | Events and HappeningsShould science be political? Trick question — science is inherently political because the vast majority of science is funded through the federal government. So, if you don’t relish the idea of competing against your peers for an increasingly shrinking pool of grant money, it’s important to care about the process by which money is federally(...)
LGBTQ+ Health Disparities: Compassionate Care Is Admitting Ignorance
Posted by | Events and HappeningsOn Tuesday, May 1, I attended the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine-hosted seminar titled The Role of Health Care Professionals in Reducing LGBTQ Health Disparities, given by Andrew Hollenbach, an alumnus of the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Hollenbach is an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics and the co-director of the basic science(...)
Three-Minute Thesis: A Case Study in the Economics of Communication
Posted by | Events and HappeningsPhoto courtesy of hub.jhu.edu Economics is defined, in practice, as the act of efficiently allocating scarce resources so as to best suit the wants and needs of humankind. In the context of a factory, this notion could refer to the efficient allocation of input commodities, such as steel and plastic, so as to maximize the production(...)
Titan Titin: When Mutations in the Largest Known Protein Affect the Heart
Posted by | Events and Happenings“We know from our clinical experience in the practice of medicine that in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment, the individual and his background of heredity are just as important, if not more so, as the disease itself.” — Paul Dudley White (1886–1973), Chief Consultant, National Heart Institute For the second installment of the Heart, Lung and(...)
Innovations at the Intersection of Medicine and Engineering
Posted by | Events and HappeningsOn March 16, the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine and Whiting School of Engineering held a research retreat titled “Re-Engineering Medical Discovery.” A number of students, researchers and clinical faculty attended to learn about the exciting innovations currently happening at the intersection of these fields. The day started with opening remarks from Mark Anderson, director(...)
Lights, Camera, Science!
Posted by | Events and HappeningsIt’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…the Science & Entertainment Exchange? Ann Merchant swooped into the February Telling Stories About Science seminar with an origin story in hand and prepared to engage. The goal of this seminar program is to invite professionals with a wide variety of backgrounds and expertise to give monthly seminars on(...)
The Challenges of Medical Education in the Millennial Era
Posted by | Events and HappeningsThe weekend of November 4 was bustling in Boston. As the nippy winds of early winter settled into the northeastern city, energetic physicians and medical trainees hustled back and forth down Newbury Street for the annual conference of the Association of American Medical Colleges. This year, over 4,500 people attended the annual Learn, Serve, Lead(...)