Patria y Vida: Reflecting from Medical School on Cuba’s Uprising
Dianela Perdomo, a medical student and Cuban immigrant, shares her perspective on Cuba’s recent wave of anti-government protests.
The COVID-19 Reprieve on Medical Student Debt
COVID-19 took an emotional toll on medical students. Government grants, reduced interest rates and paused interest collection offered some financial relief. Why couldn’t we make those changes permanent?
The Cost of Preventing Pediatric Influenza Deaths
How much is the life of one child really worth? That is part of the question bioethicists and policymakers must consider when discussing influenza’s recent disappearance. In the U.S., the past three flu seasons have resulted in 144 to 199 pediatric deaths from influenza infection. Strikingly, only one pediatric death from influenza was recorded during […]
Distributing Vaccines: Smallpox and the History of Vaccine Campaigns
The COVID-19 vaccine campaign will last for months, if not longer — it took over a hundred years for vaccination to wipe out smallpox. By examining how smallpox vaccination succeeded and failed, we can learn what may happen with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and how to address potential pitfalls.
Anti-Vax to Anti-Mask: Processing Anti-Science Claims During a Pandemic
So-called anti-maskers have emerged during the COVID pandemic, and their arguments are strikingly similar to anti-vaxxer claims. How do we think about these two together?
Quarantine Reading Recommendations
Tired of watching TV but don’t know what to read? Graduate students at the Johns Hopkins Department of the History of Medicine recommend some great titles on the history of public health and infectious disease to get your reading list started.
Global Threats to Public Health: Dr. Peter Hotez on Climate Change, Conflicts, Poverty and Antiscience
In this year’s Hopkins Medicine Distinguished Speakers Series, Peter Hotez from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas spoke about the need to find new medicines for neglected tropical diseases and to confront familiar diseases that are growing worse each year thanks to climate change, global conflicts, poverty and antiscience movements.
Water Conservation, Research and Life in Cape Town, South Africa
I went to Cape Town, South Africa, to perform predissertation research on water management. I returned home with a transformed attitude toward personal water conservation. Soon after I landed in Cape Town in mid-June, I heard the catchy phrase: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.” In case you are […]
The Relationship Between Age and Blood Pressure: Another Way Your Lifestyle Can Impact Heart Health
Many of us have likely experienced recent high blood pressure. Whether it’s from well-meaning but very inquisitive relatives, or the winding lines at the airport, most of us are acquainted with a temporary rise in blood pressure under stress. And unfortunately, high blood pressure (BP) is a common chronic issue for millions of people worldwide. […]
Revolutionizing with R3: A New Ph.D. Program Seeks To Train Scientists As Critical Thinkers
During graduate school, it can be easy to get lost among the tomes of information that we all must memorize in time for our exams. This background knowledge helps fuel our research and lets us know what topics have already been explored so that we have an idea of the paths to take in our […]
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