Though high-tech specialties tend to be considered more prestigious—partly because they've led to great advances in patient care—primary care offers not only the opportunity to do work that society needs but also the intrinsic reward of face-to-face patient care.
Laura N. Gitlin, PhD and Nancy A. Hodgson, PhD, RN
As a matter of medical ethics, physicians must address the health care needs of and be advocates for family caregivers of their patients with dementia.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(12):1171-1181. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.12.ecas1-1612.
Disparities in children’s mental health care could be addressed through expansion of school-based programs via passage of the Mental Health in Schools Act.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(12):1218-1224. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.12.pfor1-1612.
Education debt is driving medical school graduates away from underserved communities and primary care, both of which our country will sorely need in the coming years.
Patients who have been encouraged to think of themselves as consumers and a medical system that is driven by individual demands rather than big-picture planning can undermine fairness in the distribution of vaccines.
The phrase “I take Lipitor instead of a generic” was embedded in the public consciousness through an advertising campaign that featured Robert Jarvik, credited with the invention of the artificial heart.