It was 11:30p.m. on August 1st, and I arrived in Colombia as a Fulbright scholar. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, I had my K95 mask tightly secured on my face and, behind fogged-up glasses, I read the signs in Spanish directing me to immigration in customs. After years of anticipation, Fulbright…
Abstract In any sort of immersive educational experience, growth occurs through gains in self-awareness and perspective. This growth results directly from the discomfort experienced when your personal episteme and culture differ from that of your new environment. This article introduces the term “uncomfort” and describes how discomfort emerges from the…
From the beginning of this transformative text, Tolle explicitly articulates that the purpose of the book is to bring a shift in consciousness and to awaken us as individuals and communities. Identifying ego as the root of the dysfunction, insanity, and suffering that we experience as humans, Tolle clearly advocates…
This morning I woke up with the sun. Birds were singing as the sun rose over the mountains to the east, and I rolled over to watch colors fill the sky. As the sun grew stronger, I wrapped myself in my sheet to keep cool at an altitude of 8,667…
The global shift in morbidity and mortality from communicable to noncommunicable disease is well documented. ((Alwan A, World Health O. Global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2010. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2011.)) In the United States, there is also a rise in the number of patients - both adult and…
A Book Review of Hector Abad Faciolince’s El Olvido Que Seremos In El Olvido Que Seremos, Hector Abad Faciolince celebrates the life of his father, a leading physician, population health scientist, and human rights activists in Medellín, Colombia, who was assassinated during the armed conflict in Colombia in the second…
Microbes, viruses, and their variants are often how humans connect health and the environment. The current COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example. Yet the relationship between our health and environment is much more intimate and interconnected. From a medical perspective, we tend to associate healthcare with reactive care to disease,…
There are many textbooks available to provide an introduction to epidemiology and data analysis. As I was preparing for my qualifying exams for a PhD in epidemiology, I received a recommendation to explore the book Making Sense of Data from a professor at my university. This book is comprehensive in…
A review of Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life Medicine. Public health. Alternative medicine. Wellness. Integrative medicine. Whole-person medicine. Born in a particular era, practiced by specific audiences, and marketed to the masses, these are but a few of the popularized terms that describe our relationship with and care…
In The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life, we are told how, according to Chinese tradition, people can reconstruct their past over and over and may, in turn, live differently. Using simple yet sophisticated prose, the authors Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh catalyze this process…
Relationships – be they professional, romantic, platonic, or familial – govern and guide our interactions and wellbeing as humans: in our most exposed and naked form, we are social animals. As public health scientists, we identify and research relationships, primarily between exposures and outcomes. But these terms are empty buckets…
Understanding Microinflammation: The Common Link Between Aging, Cancer, and Coronary Disease is a must-read text for chronic disease-focused public health and medical professionals. The book summarizes the current literature on microinflammation in an accessible way for people without a strong biochemistry background. The authors advance the conversation on comprehensive chronic…
