“The issue of physician burnout pervades not just medical training but also the years after…this chronic erosion of empathy has resulted in the attitude that apathy is not just tolerated but, in some cases, even justified.” Here, empathy is crucial.

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What needs to be considered as some governments move towards a “herd immunity approach? What does it mean to have “herd immunity”? How would this affect the population and the future of the pandemic? Here, in this Washington Post piece, John Authers discusses the moral decision in immunity. He brings in concepts of utilitarianism and economic status in the consideration for herd immunity.

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Home health aides during COVID-19 help to keep the most vulnerable patients out of the hospital. Yet, this population of workers has been largely overlooked. Health aides struggle to receive PPE and have not been compensated well for their efforts.

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“In health care, a new force is redrawing barriers: algorithms that blindly soak up and perpetuate historical imbalances in access to medical resources.” Investigations reveal algorithms commonly inject racial bias into decisions for vulnerable areas. How can we better redesign software to reduce the infusion of racism into health care as we move towards a more digital age?

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“It’s not by dint of circumstance or luck that predominantly white counties — by and large — have not had as many diagnoses as compared to more diverse counties,” he says. “There’s a systemic issue that’s underlying all of this.”

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“Which countries should get a vaccine first? To what degree should helping essential workers, the poor, minorities and the young (or old) affect vaccine distribution?…” A few of many questions to consider when developing methods to distribute. If the vaccine proves to be a highly efficacious intervention, access to the product will be key to closing disparities in health outcomes due to COVID-19 infection.

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“Black women are marginalized again, even as they seek medical care. Their health suffers under systemic racism, exacerbated by sexism.” Michele Goodwin paints a picture of biases in healthcare disproportionately affecting black women. These effects on women health outcomes are intersectional, a combination of racism on the basis of skin and exacerbated by sexism for Black women.

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“Data encompasses problems that can occur when machine learning is trained on bias…AI applications in healthcare often involve robots working with humans.” AI can be trained on information that may further propagate discrimination on the basis of race and machine learning. Where does the blame fall when these applications do more harm than good? Can AI effectively be trained in a way that does not introduce more disparities in healthcare?

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“Dermatology, the medical specialty devoted to treating diseases of the skin, has a problem with brown and black skin. Though progress has been made in recent years, most textbooks that serve as road maps for diagnosing skin disorders often don’t include images of skin conditions as they appear on people of color.” – Roni Rabin

Medical disparities exist on the level of doctor-patient interact as well as education of the future generation of doctors. Lack of representation of people of color in skin outcomes presents persistent issues in treatment and healthcare.

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People across the country are mourning the death this weekend of actor Chadwick Boseman, who died from colon cancer at the age of 43. Boseman’s death is reinvigorating discussions about the rising incidence of colon cancer in young people, meaning those under age 50, as well as about racial inequities in colon cancer screening and deaths from the disease.

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