Despite leaps forward in medical technology that have enabled the timely detection and effective treatment of many cancers, members of marginalized racial and ethnic groups and patients without health insurance often do not receive timely and appropriate care.

The Employee Retirement Income and Security Act (ERISA) has created a loophole through which managed care organizations can escape liability for full compensatory damages solely because the patient is insured by his or her employer.

Despite exclusion of cost from the definition of comparative effectiveness research from the recent health care reform legislation, it will feed into cost-benefit analyses.

Many health professionals harbor negative biases toward individuals who are obese. Cultivating an awareness of our own biases is the best way to avoid acting on them.

A breastfed infant in a high weight-for-length percentile is not necessarily at greater risk for future health problems than a leaner infant; a physician would be justified in advocating for such a child to receive insurance coverage.

Much premed education encourages acquiring competence in basic science and demonstrating (rather than developing) the characteristics of a good physician.

Longitudinal integrated clerkships intend to correct documented erosion in medical student compassion and patient-centeredness.

PRIME-LC is a 5-year, dual-degree program at the University of California, Irvine Medical School that educates physician activists to serve in poor Latino communities.

One of medical education’s key responsibilities is to produce leaders to serve the profession and health care system.

There are four key elements of health system reform that medical educators must endeavor to implement.