Tag: social determinants of health
Sex and gender matter in COVID-19
Some people get extremely sick after infection with the novel coronavirus and other individuals remain asymptomatic or have a very mild course. We have no proven therapies (although there is some research that suggests an antiviral drug called remdesivir may help) and no short-term hopes for a vaccine. Clinical trials are in progress and public health strategies are being implemented. But, in order to combat COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, we need to look at the pandemic and the possible interventions through a sex and gender-based lens. Here’s why.
Read morePhysician burnout
Physician burnout has been in the news for the past few years. Defined as a sense of physical and emotional collapse related to work stresses, symptoms include exhaustion, cynicism, feelings of incompetence and poor work performance. In a survey of 6,880 physicians in 2014, 54.4% reported at least 1 symptom of burnout (up from 45.5% in 2011) and the numbers are continuing to rise. A systematic review summarizing articles written about physician burnout suggests that burnout can also lead to an increase in medical errors. Among the suspected causes of burnout are the pressures of seeing more patients in less time, the challenges of documenting clinical visits in an electronic health record, increasing paperwork required by insurance companies, etc. In short, the demands of a fragmented, dysfunctional healthcare system are thought to be an important contributor to the suffering experienced by physicians.