#neveragain

 

 

If you practiced medicine back in the 1970s, you witnessed a dramatic change in the practice of pediatric primary care. By then, advances in medicine had reduced the incidence and toll of many deadly childhood diseases, including infectious diseases (through vaccination, antibiotics and improved hygiene/sanitation), pediatric cancer, asthma, and heart disease. Instead, the emphasis turned toward disease prevention, behavioral pediatrics, and safety. We saw major public health initiatives emphasizing automobile safety (the use of seatbelts and approved car seats for children), prevention of accidental poisoning with the use of child-resistant packaging and safety caps, SIDS prevention, and the use of smoke detectors…all calculated to reduce the incidence of the number one cause of death in childhood: unintentional injuries.

“The safety of the people

shall be the highest law.”

~Marcus Tullius Cicero~





But then, of course, there were still the guns. Headlining the February 2, 2018 issue of Newsweek magazine is this:

“Kids and Guns:

Shooting now the 3^rd leading cause of death for US children.”

 

Which brings me to this true story:

A boy was accompanied to my office by his mother for his well-child exam. I took his past medical history, family history, and social history before examining him. I asked about school, what sports he played, whether or not he wore his seat belt, whether or not there were smoke detectors in the house…routine questions, among others, that covered preventive/safety issues in the home.

Then I asked whether or not there was a gun in the house. Did he know where it was kept and if it was locked and/or loaded? Well, to my surprise, his mother became irate at these questions. It was as if I were accusing her of a crime. Prying into something that was none of my business. As if I was trying to shame her for having a gun in the house. In fact, she was so offended, she wrote a letter to my office manager and left the practice.

Not long afterward, there was a deadly accidental shooting in our community. A young boy died.

 

~from Townhall

February 20, 2018

Beth Baumann~

 

This story serves to illustrate the explosive (no pun intended) nature of the gun control debate. No other safety issue has generated such a heated response. This is a concern that all health care providers must confront. It is a huge personal, political, and public health problem. It belongs to all of us.

#NEVERAGAIN

jan

we've come a long way

 

 

Yesterday—February 3—was National Women Physicians Day. Who knew there was such a thing? This is proof we’ve come a long way since I decided medicine would be my path in life…since the days when women in medicine were regarded with suspicion, disdain, and even mockery.

 

“If society will not admit

of woman’s free development,

then society must be remodeled.”

~Elizabeth Blackwell~

My journey into the practice of medicine started with my hospitalization for rheumatic fever when I was just three years old. Even at that young age, the experience shaped my sense of self. I never lost my appreciation for the suffering illness creates in a person’s life. I learned to harness the power to heal, and to revere the people who made it possible.

When I was in high school, I volunteered at one of the largest and poorest hospitals in Buffalo, NY. I majored in medical technology in college. I applied to medical school when there was still a 10% quota on women who were admitted—just ten in of a class of one hundred. Today, more women than men go on to study medicine.

“Every woman who heals herself

helps heal all the women

who came before her, and all those

who will come after."

~Dr. Christine Northrup~

I hope that more than just the numbers have changed.

I hope that young women who pursue the study of medicine are openly welcomed into the medical community, mentored, and encouraged to stay with it. I hope they are able to maintain high standards of medical ethics, selflessness, and dedication to patient care. That their male colleagues do not confront them with the disdain, disparagement, and arrogance that sometimes greeted us. That their female colleagues—nurses, therapists, aides, and support staff—feel connected with them in the art and science of patient care.

“The trained nurse has become

one of the great blessings of humanity,

taking a place beside

the physician and the priest.”

~Sir William Osler~

I hope they feel supported by their spouses, children, and friends. That exhaustion doesn’t do them in. That they practice balance in their lives. I wish them enough time and energy to embrace their creative nature, to enjoy their leisure, and to seek spiritual sustenance.

Because...

“Wherever the art of medicine is loved,

There is also a love of humanity.”

~Hippocrates~

jan