2 Comments April 14th, 2008 by bronxdoc
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene publishes a monthly newsletter for clinicians entitled City Health Information. The March 2008 issue is devoted to Encouraging and Supporting Breastfeeding and is an excellent resource.
That is the good news…
The bad news is that so few women in New York breastfeed. The Health People 2010 goal for the US is that 60% of mothers exclusively breastfeed for at least the first three months of life. In New York City 85% of mothers start breastfeeding, but by 2 months only 26% of them are still exclusively breastfeeding.
This is an odd situation because breastfeeding has numerous health benefits for both babies and mothers. In addition, it saves $1000 a year in formula costs. And there are only a handful of absolute contraindications: infants with galactosemia; mothers who use illegal drugs; mothers with HIV, HTLV-I or II, or active herpetic lesion; and mothers on certain medicines (thyrotoxins, some chemotherapies and radioactive isotopes).
Why then do so few women breastfeed? This is clearly not simply an individual failing, a bad “lifestyle choice.” In 1991 UNICEF and WHO set out 10 breastfeeding policies that would identify a “baby friendly” hospital. These included the facilitation of rooming in, exclusive breast milk (unless formula was medically indicated), not providing pacifiers and artificial nipples, and the training of staff in breastfeeding promotion. It is disturbing that not one New York Hospital has been designated “baby friendly.” Why not?
City Health Information provides information on how to promote breastfeeding, how to address common questions and misconceptions about breastfeeding, the practicality of breast milk storage and use as well as New York City-specific resources such as newborn home visits.
Highly recommended for all clinicians, not just those from New York City. [Free CME is also available]
Add a comment March 29th, 2008 by Matt
General guides to historical research.
You might consider starting with the chapter: “Sleuthing and Science: How to Research a Question in Medical History” from Jacalyn Duffin’s text History of Medicine: A Scandalous Short Introduction. This text is written for medical students.
One accessible introduction to general historical research is Anthony Brundage’s Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing.
Sources for information on medical history
The History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine has a rich website with many resources for historical research. Their on-line syllabus archive is a good place to start to find a list of readings about specific topics; many - if not most - of these syllabi relate to social issues and medicine. A number are in Spanish.
MedHist: Gateway to Internet Resources on the History of Medicine: This website is run by a consortium of seven universities and is designed to link to high quality internet resources on the history of medicine.
Portail pour l’histoire des sciences et des techniques en France et en Europe A web portal for medical history run by the University of Paris.
Sigerist Circle: The Sigerist Circle (named after Henry E. Sigerist) is “a group of medical historians, scholars in related fields and others interested in the history of health, health care and the biomedical sciences, who give special attention to the issues of class, race and gender and /or use Marxist, feminist and related critical methodologies in the analysis of medical history.” Their website primarily has information about the Circle.
Wellcome Library, The Wellcome Trust An amazing on-line archive from Britian’s largest charity funding biomedical research. It is named after Henry Wellcome, a British “pharmaceutical entrepreneur.”
The Countway Library at Harvard Medical School is one of the major medical libraries in the US and its website has a History of Medicine section.
Funding
The US Health Left History Center offers a Lear Fellowship for Medical History Students. This is an unparalleled collection of 20th century materials on US health activism. See our posting on the Center.
1 Comment March 23rd, 2008 by Matt
The Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Havana has full scholarships for US students who want to study medicine. This is a six-year medical school meaning that a bachelor’s degree is not required.
Applicants must:
- Be US citizens
- Be between the ages of 18 and 30 at the time of registration
- Be physically and mentally fit
- Come from the humblest and neediest communities in the US
- Be committed to practice medicine in poor and under served US communities after graduation
This program is administered by Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO/Pastors for Peace) and full details can be found on their website.
For a description of the program written by two US students, see our posting: Studying Medicine in Cuba: The experience of two US students
- posted by Matt Anderson
[This posting was updated on July 21, 2008]
Add a comment March 23rd, 2008 by Matt
AMSA (American Medical Students Association website has an excellent activism toolbook with information on lobbying and public relations.
Find out who your representative is at www.house.gov and write them.
The Society of Primary Care Fellows has an impressive set of links related to policy advocacy and lobbying in the United States.
Add a comment March 23rd, 2008 by Matt
Online Policy Group offers “a range of services to equalize online access for nonprofit organizations and individuals who are under-represented, underserved, or facing unfair bias, discrimination, or defamation.” These services include hosting email lists and websites as well as registering domain names. They advertise free or at-cost web-hosting.Online Policy Group offers “a range of services to equalize online access for nonprofit organizations and individuals who are under-represented, underserved, or facing unfair bias, discrimination, or defamation.” These services include hosting email lists and websites as well as registering domain names. They advertise free or at-cost web-hosting.
Add a comment March 23rd, 2008 by Matt
[Originally posted October, 2004]
The prospect of being on the receiving end of police brutality during political protests is not new for many activists. However in the past several years, particularly since the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, it has become a more prominent issue. Dealing with the immediate and long term health effects of police violence presents many unique issues that are not addressed by mainstream health providers. Street or action medics are those groups and individuals who have stepped forward to help meet some of these needs by providing health care specifically to protesters and activists.
The health needs of activists are wide ranging and street medics attempt to meet these in a variety of ways. Paramedics are often barred from entering the scene of protests until police have determined the area “secure,” thereby creating delays in access to professional medical care for protesters. Street medics will often work on the ground during actions to provide appropriate first aid care to protesters and, if necessary, negotiate with police for the movement of injured persons to safe areas. Because the health effects of pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets and handcuffing are not understood by most health professionals, street medics have researched appropriate treatments for these and have learned how to provide acute and long-term care for these types of exposures and injuries. Many medic groups also offer trainings for non-medic activists on staying healthy, including such topics as remembering to bring water and sunscreen to events, as well as what to do with clothes that have been covered in pepper spray. As medic groups have become more established, many are also addressing long-term health issues by opening clinics specifically for activists and offering mental health support for those who are recovering from protest-associated trauma.
Street medics come from a variety of health care backgrounds including herbalists, nurses, EMTs, NPs, health educators, physicians, medical students, and acupuncturists. However, a medical background is not necessary to be a street medic as most receive additional training in first aid, the management of activist-specific injuries and such topics as scene control and pre-hospital assessment. However being a street medic requires more than just medical knowledge. The ability to work in non-hierarchical affinity groups, value non-western medical knowledge and work in stressful, and at times dangerous, situations are all equally important to street medic work.
Political dissent requires more than individuals who willing to openly speak their mind. The success of political actions is based on the underlying support structure in place for those actions. Street medics are a vital part of this support and allow all types of health care workers to use their unique skills to help sustain political activism.
The following websites are excellent resources for learning more about street medics. Most contain a links page to other street medic sites.
Black Cross Health Collective, Portland, OR
Boston Area Liberation Medic(BALM) Squad, Boston, MA
Action-Medical
Bay Area Radical Health Collective
AMSA Direct Action Interest Group
For more information on street medics, you can contact Juliana Grant.
