Yesterday, a man, seemingly of Eastern European descent was lost on 37th street. He had a presciption in hand as he asked me where the address on his hot pink post-it was located. I was walking that direction so I walked side-by-side with him. I didn't know what to say except a comment about the rain. We arrived on the street, but the number was nowhere to be found. We turned left and kept walking past an overshadowing residential building until what should appear: a little store front with the number on his post-it on its awning. He thanked me graciously. It was totally worth the discomfort of being in the wet, cold rain a bit longer than if I had gone straight to my building.
In the spirit of kindness to strangers, Cary and I had to use the autoclave machine to test out whether some surgical tools would rust. We went down to flights of stairs to ask for permission to use the lab's personal autoclave machine. The man in the lab made no fuss, and walked us to the room and showed us how to use it without even asking who we were. Now that is what I call scientific love.
Flashback:
April 2007. I remember our first day in Rome when Savita, Meera, Hana and I were unsure where we were. We couldn't find our hostel (it was off our map, go figure), and we had asked people but no one knew. Then we came up on this big, jovial looking middle-aged man. With our broken Spanish and his Italian, we managed to exchanged some words... maybe almost even communicated. He called his friends and asked on his mobile and then figured out where we were supposed to go. Then, hailing a cab, he threw 20 euro to the driver and directed him where to go. We arrived safe and sound, as the meter ended at 4.90 euro. Maybe that was why Italy was the best spring break ever. We started it off with a man willing to help four strangers, lost in what he knew as home, but what we saw as long foreign words and spaghetti.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Here's to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Wait. Just listen. Open your mind to the possibility of it.
Sunday, the health care reform bill was passed. Not one republican representative voted for it, but I feel as though they were so adamant about not changing anything that they were missing out on being part of something incredibly monumental. There must be some political agenda at hand. There is no way the current system can stay in place, and the republicans must know that. According to data presented at a recent seminar at NYU Medical Center, given by Dr. Fisher from Dartmouth Medical School, health care costs will double by 2017. At it's current rate of increase, it can only go up.
What was that?
Insurance policies do not transfer over state lines? If your job provides health care or a subsidy, then you won't have much to worry about regardless of where you are. Insurance companies don't profit much? This past year, the top five insurance companies earned 56% MORE profit while insuring 2.7 million LESS people (http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/11/business/la-fi-health-profits12-2010feb12). It just does not seem right. Costs will explode? We'll see. Obama's projected projected budget is $940 billion over ten years compared to the $2,300 billion US health expenditure in 2008 (A. Jack in London in today's edition of the Financial Times, page 3).
Keep yourself educated. You will be less gullible to scare tactics from anyone, like republicans, democrats, or even your own mother.
Despite it all, I don't know how I feel about it because it will affect my generation of medical school graduates. Who knows what the future will bring. I may experience a pay cut, despite the overwhelming medical school debt I will accumulate. I may see more patients than my wary body, mind, and soul can handle... but at least they will have access. Knowing that American citizens are covered will be better for us as a nation, both economically and physically. Emergency rooms are legally mandated to treat all patients, even if they do not have the means to pay. Who foots the bill? The American tax payers. Why don't we give them a chance to pay for their own care? Also - if we can start preventative care early, like exercise and eat healthily, maybe Americans won't be seen as overweight and obsessed with McDonald's in the international community. Maybe diabetes and heart disease won't be so prevalent. I don't mind defending my country (lord knows I defend New Jersey enough...), but the truth should speak for itself. Males in the United States should not be 69% overweight. Women in the United States should not be 52% overweight (http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?rgn=1&cat=2&ind=90). We should enjoy the convenience of modern living without suffering from the bad side effects of overindulgence and inactivity.
I got this from Meera's twitter, it shared a really great sentiment. http://i.imgur.com/590Ev.png
Sunday, the health care reform bill was passed. Not one republican representative voted for it, but I feel as though they were so adamant about not changing anything that they were missing out on being part of something incredibly monumental. There must be some political agenda at hand. There is no way the current system can stay in place, and the republicans must know that. According to data presented at a recent seminar at NYU Medical Center, given by Dr. Fisher from Dartmouth Medical School, health care costs will double by 2017. At it's current rate of increase, it can only go up.
What was that?
Insurance policies do not transfer over state lines? If your job provides health care or a subsidy, then you won't have much to worry about regardless of where you are. Insurance companies don't profit much? This past year, the top five insurance companies earned 56% MORE profit while insuring 2.7 million LESS people (http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/11/business/la-fi-health-profits12-2010feb12). It just does not seem right. Costs will explode? We'll see. Obama's projected projected budget is $940 billion over ten years compared to the $2,300 billion US health expenditure in 2008 (A. Jack in London in today's edition of the Financial Times, page 3).
Keep yourself educated. You will be less gullible to scare tactics from anyone, like republicans, democrats, or even your own mother.
Despite it all, I don't know how I feel about it because it will affect my generation of medical school graduates. Who knows what the future will bring. I may experience a pay cut, despite the overwhelming medical school debt I will accumulate. I may see more patients than my wary body, mind, and soul can handle... but at least they will have access. Knowing that American citizens are covered will be better for us as a nation, both economically and physically. Emergency rooms are legally mandated to treat all patients, even if they do not have the means to pay. Who foots the bill? The American tax payers. Why don't we give them a chance to pay for their own care? Also - if we can start preventative care early, like exercise and eat healthily, maybe Americans won't be seen as overweight and obsessed with McDonald's in the international community. Maybe diabetes and heart disease won't be so prevalent. I don't mind defending my country (lord knows I defend New Jersey enough...), but the truth should speak for itself. Males in the United States should not be 69% overweight. Women in the United States should not be 52% overweight (http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?rgn=1&cat=2&ind=90). We should enjoy the convenience of modern living without suffering from the bad side effects of overindulgence and inactivity.
I got this from Meera's twitter, it shared a really great sentiment. http://i.imgur.com/590Ev.png
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