2020 Edition
“It’s not the absence of fear, it’s overcoming it. Sometimes you’ve got to blast through and have faith."
-Emma Watson
ABOUT US
Here at AMWA UTD, we want to do our very best to inform you of all of the issues relevant to women and healthcare, together and separately. We hope that our monthly newsletter becomes an enlightening source to you all as we learn about the multitudes of important topics and issues that we all need to be aware of.
IMPORTANT CLUB EVENTS
12/11 @ 2 PM - Secret Santa Holiday Party
RSVP UNDER OUR CALENDAR TAB
IMPORTANT NATIONAL EVENTS
12/1 @ 8 PM - AMWA LEADS PROGRAM COMMITTEE BIWEEKLY WEBINAR
12/6 @ 7 PM - 5B Film Screening
12/12 @ 5:30 PM - Racism in Medicine: Harriet A. Washington’s Book “Medical Apartheid” Part III
12/15 @ 8 PM- AMWA LEADS PROGRAM COMMITTEE BIWEEKLY WEBINAR
12/16 @ 6 PM- LEAP Symposia on Heart Health
VISIT OUR NATIONAL AMWA INFO TAB FOR MORE INFO
NATIONAL OBSERVANCES
- World AIDS Day (Dec. 1)
-National Handwashing Awareness Week (Dec. 6–12)
YOUR TOP 5 NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
BY: JANVI PATEL & MEGAN ANN ZACHARIAH
1. Biden/Harris win the 2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential elections. Kamala Harris makes history as not only the first woman but the first woman of color to enter the vice presidency. Serving as a Californian Senator, District Attorney, and finally, as the Attorney General, Harris has campaigned for marriage equality, immigrant legal representation, and raising the minimum wage.[MZ]
“Don’t sit around and complain about things, do something”, Shyamala Goplan Harris,
Kamala Harris’s mother
2. Scotland became the first country to vote to end “period poverty” by removing all costs for sanitary products. The unanimously passed bill mandates that pads, tampons, and other sanitary products will be distributed to females across the nation free of charge. [MZ]
3. Collaboration between Korean pop group, Blackpink, and Selena Gomez breaks the record for the fastest artist to reach 10 million views with single “Ice Cream”. [MZ]
4. The 2020 election saw not only a woman in the White House but a record number of women in all around elected positions. A total of 51 women will serve in Congress this term, and 17 women of color will hold statewide executive positions.
5. Ariana Grande breaks records in the music industry with her new album Positions! Her album made her the first artist in Billboard’s Hot 100 history to ever have 3 number 1 debuts in the same year. She also topped Taylor Swift, having the most streams upon release.
MIND OVER MATTER: OUR FAVORITES DURING FINALS - SOME TIPS TO DESTRESS DURING EXAMS!
mental health /men-tal health/, n. something that sorely needs to be taken care of and loved, even though some may tell you differently.
Mental health is, fortunately, a topic being more talked about in recent years. And yet, I don’t think it can ever be talked about quite enough, simply because sometimes you just can't find the words that you want to say about what’s going on in your head. I like to remind myself that I am not my thoughts. Thoughts are simply words, flying around in my head, and they don’t mean anything unless I choose to turn them into actions. Though mental health may be something that we struggle to turn into a spoken word, it doesn’t have to be something we can’t control. Here are 7 of my favorite things to do, eat, or read that help me relax (especially during finals) when I don’t know quite how to say I need a break but know I deserve one.
-SHRADDHA TREHAN
Mental illness and substance abuse rank distressingly high as leading causes of death worldwide. The stigma that surrounds mental health remains a significant deterrent for those attempting to seek treatment. In recent years, the fight for education and better representation of mental health has become a popular topic, and while there have been great strides in research and accessibility of resources for mental health, the treatment and long-term management of mental disorders needs further improvement.
As a community, it is extremely important that as we recognize the challenges of those afflicted with mental health issues. While we may not be able to physically reach out to provide comfort, we can do so by calling and checking in on our friends and families, dropping off basic essentials, and most importantly, educating ourselves on mental illnesses to better address the needs of those struggling.
With finals being right around the corner I find myself needing a few more breaks than the usual exam week to really de-stress. Here are a few of my favorite ways to wind down and relax!
-ZARAH RAHMAN
THE WRITERS' PICKS
Make sure to fill out our ASK AMWA form to send in more mental health-related topics/questions that you all want to discuss with us and the rest of the AMWA community!
COVID-19 TURNS ONE
BY: JANVI PATEL
Though it feels like an eternity since a pandemic was declared and the world was put on hold, COVID-19’s first birthday passed only recently on November 17th, 2020, a milestone in the history of the world. COVID-19 was life-changing. Not only did it rock the very foundation’s many countries and governments were built on, but it exposed weaknesses and strengths in unforeseen places. It showed the faults in the healthcare system, in the government, in research and development. But it also showed strength, in healthcare workers, in emerging technologies, and in those around us. The pandemic had widespread effects in every corner of the world. Mask mandates, stay at home orders, social distancing all became an integral part of life till no one remembered how life was before the pandemic. Life turned into a routine. Wake up, school, or work from home, try to maintain a semblance of reality, sleep, repeat. And now finally, finally, there is a glimmer of hope. A vaccine.
It was announced in early November that a company called Pfizer had developed a vaccine that was 90% effective against COVID-19 without any adverse side effects and had reached the final stages of testing. This was followed by another company, Moderna, releasing news that it had also developed a vaccine, this one 95% effective and without adverse side effects. Though this news provides a glimmer of hope, it also raises questions regarding vaccine functionality and safety as these vaccines are the first of their kind. Typically, vaccines contain weakened or synthesized forms of the target virus to be injected into the hosts’ body to stimulate antibody production. Both COVID-19 vaccines, however, are mRNA vaccines. This means that instead of injecting the host with a less virulent form of the pathogen, patients will be injected with a small portion of COVID-19’s protein’s genetic code. The genetic code will then produce a harmless COVID-19 protein and allow the body to create antibodies for it, effectively equipping the body to combat the virus. This new type of vaccine is an immense step in science and medicine as not only are the methods novel but extremely successful as shown by their effectiveness. Such rates for a vaccine are extremely promising as the current flu vaccine is only 50% effective. More testing, however, is still to be done to ensure efficacy and prevent any adverse effects.
The vaccines being developed by both companies are seemingly extremely promising, however, more testing remains to be done to ensure the health and safety of people worldwide. As these vaccines are being developed and tested, officials are working tirelessly to ensure production and distribution are seamless. Till then, it’s important for us and individuals to follow government and CDC guidelines, adhere to social distancing and the mask mandate, and help slow the spread of the virus so that soon COVID-19 may be thought of the past.
ART AND MEDICINE
BY: MEGAN ANN ZACHARIAH
An unlikely marriage, however, recent research has discovered the immense therapeutic benefits of incorporating various artistic mediums into medical settings. From increasing patient recovery rates to reducing pain medication requests, there is clinical evidence that the synergistic relationship between art and healthcare plays a critical role in defining the world of healthcare of tomorrow.
So how as future healthcare professionals can we better equip ourselves to enter this ever-evolving frontier of the sciences and humanities? Luckily, Dr. Bonnie Pitman, former Director of the Dallas Museum of Art and the Director of Art and Brain Innovations at the UT Center for BrainHealth, has addressed the lack of integrative coursework in this area available to UTD students and is providing a series of classes that allows students to critically analyze the world by delving into various forms and mediums of art that have shaped our society.
Dr. Pitman has led workshops in meditation and observation among others to medical students and medical professionals at UT Southwestern and Baylor. By training visual intelligence, these courses help equip healthcare workers with the tools necessary to provide intentional and compassionate care to the community, attributes that are coveted by professional schools. According to Dr. Pitman, “medical schools have realized that the humanities are really important for their doctors to learn because it creates empathy, a broader knowledge of looking at the patient, as well as opening up the physician's life” in a way that is necessary to prevent burnout and improve holistic care. Close to 150 medical schools have partnered with museums to incorporate the humanities into the curriculum in order to produce well-rounded physicians who are trained to see patients as people rather than symptoms on a chart.
Addressing the prominence of the humanities in STEM education, Dr. Pitman believes allowing undergraduates to develop these skills early in their career is critical to long term success in the field. “There’s an interest in the humanization of medicine that you don’t see in other aspects of the curriculum” states Dr. Pitman, which has inspired her to curate courses that bridge the humanities and medicine. Next semester, Dr. Pitman will teach “Art and Medicine”, a course that discusses the evolution of medicine and healing practices as well as artists with physical and mental conditions such as Frida Kahlo and van Gogh.
If you are interested in learning more about art and medicine, keep an eye out for the course, or shoot Dr. Pitman an email at bpitman@utdallas.edu! As a former student of Dr. Pitman, I have personally seen the impact of the skills we developed during lectures. I highly recommend anyone interested in enriching their pre-health experience to explore Dr. Pitman’s publications, take her courses in the future, or visit the DMA to engage your powers of observation.
SOBER DRIVING TODAY. ALIVE TOMORROW.
BY: SHRADDHA TREHAN
If we’re being honest, most people like a drink, especially during the holiday season. Surrounded by family, friends and the cold weather, it’s hard to not get in the holiday spirit. But the thing is, drinking can easily turn into driving, and a very big problem awaits us here.
December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. This is because two very important holidays await us in this month, Christmas and New Year’s, and so do nearly half of the total traffic deaths in the year. To make a point, on December 25, 2018, 35 people died in drunk driving crashes. During all of December of 2018, 50% of the entire year’s worth of crashes occurred on December 24th and December 31st. Drugged driving is equally as dangerous, as marijuana and other drugs can cause the same slow reaction time, impaired judgment, and decreased coordination that alcohol does. Other drugs, like meth and cocaine, can cause aggressiveness and reckless driving. Overall, someone dies from a drunk/drugged driving accident every 50 minutes. That statistic turns into 10,000 people a year in the United States alone. The staggering thing about these statistics is that each and every one of them is preventable. By simply keeping each other accountable and responsible, we can make sure everyone has a good time and no one gets hurt.
There are lots of ways to be responsible. One simply needs to designate a non-drinking driver ahead of time, set a limit of how many drinks one will have, and/or alternate between alcoholic beverages and soda, juice, or water. As a host, one can make sure to collect each guest’s keys upon arrival, stop serving alcohol 1-2 hours before the party ends, and try to make sure that drugs and alcohol are not mixed at the party. The point is, drunk and drugged driving is a killer disease. If you don’t believe me, take it from this woman, who wrote an open letter to the drunk driver who killed her father: “Your bad decision left my life in pieces…As I have gotten older, I’ve slowly learned to find that [your] presence as a human being is irrelevant. [To me, you are] one of the worst types of people in the world, and [you have] to live with that guilt every single day. Who knows, maybe [you] feel no guilt at all, but it’s not my problem to care about [you] anymore. My problem is to change how important people find drinking and driving...It sickens me how many times I’ve heard people openly say, ‘I drive way better when I’m drunk’…To be so selfish in risking taking someone else’s life or [your] own is easily avoidable. It’s not worth it.” The point of this article is not to scare us away from having a good time, but to make us feel responsible. Not just for ourselves, but for others as well. We must remember, if we are sober driving today, we are alive tomorrow, and so are those around us.
A DISCUSSION ON DISABILITIES
BY: ZARAH RAHMAN
December 3rd is a national disability day and it serves to educate able-bodied individuals of the challenges people with disabilities face on a daily basis.
The CDC defines a disability as “any condition of the body or mind that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities and interact with the world around them”. According to these guidelines, we can divide the myriad of disabilities into four categories: intellectual, physical, sensory, and mental illness. Disabilities affect every population, gender, and age; it also predisposes those affected to increased environmental, social, and emotional stress.
In the United States alone, 36 million women are currently living with a disability. Younger women with physical disabilities face social discrimination more frequently than able-bodied individuals; thus increasing the likelihood of gender-based violence, sexual abuse, and neglect. Physical barriers such as limited availability of wheelchair-accessible ramps and a lack of transportation/navigation services prevent disabled individuals from accomplishing basic activities such as shopping for groceries, applying to government services/benefits, and visiting or interacting with others. Communicating and forming friendships or relationships also becomes increasingly difficult due to the limited understanding or poor etiquette when talking to people with disabilities. With such mundane tasks becoming a hassle, the quality of life for people with disabilities is extremely poor. So, what can we do to help?
The lens with which we currently view disabilities needs to change. Advocating for increased production and implementation of support services/devices in local restaurants, grocery stores, and administrative buildings can ease the challenge of accessibility for people with disabilities. On a smaller scale, practicing social inclusion can be incredibly helpful in developing meaningful and long-lasting friendships/relationships. Increasing representation of individuals with disabilities on social media, on TV, or even through podcasts can initiate the conversation on disabilities and educate a wide audience on ways to interact and engage in a respectful manner. Additionally, it can be used to address difficulties people with and without disabilities face when interacting with one another. One topic of discussion is the feeling of self-consciousness or guilt able-bodied individuals feel when talking or interacting with individuals with disabilities. Oftentimes these feelings arise when our focus is directed on the differences we can outwardly see. It is extremely easy to forget that an individual with a disability is FIRST and FOREMOST a human-being capable of understanding, feeling, and navigating the world around them in the same way you do, and using common phrases like “You see what I mean?” when speaking with a blind individual will not make the conversation awkward. By making a clear distinction between what is offensive and what is casual conversation can help ease tension and overthinking.
By instigating a cultural reset in the way we interact with disabled individuals, we can significantly reduce discrimination and promote an inclusive environment. Advocating for education, implementing support services/devices, and actively practicing social inclusion are just a few ways to help ease the plight of individuals with disabilities.
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