How Can We Go Forward as a Community and as a Society?

By Eve Higginbotham SM, MD, ML

Yesterday at 4PM, a young man lost his life in West Philadelphia.  According to reports, he had a history of mental illness and was brandishing a knife, as he walked towards police.  As I view the video which documented this occurrence, I see a young man, younger than my nephew, who is indeed, walking towards police.  He was not running towards the officers but was simply walking.  Why is it that the initial response to such a circumstance is to release a flurry of bullets?  Why is it that the deadliest display of force is the first response?  Why isn’t it the last strategy? Why not use a Taser first rather than consider this method as an afterthought?  It…

In Honor of Congressman John Lewis (1940-2020)

By Eve J. Higginbotham SM, MD, ML

As we continue to mourn the death of Congressman John Lewis, it is important to recognize the lessons he taught us during his lifetime.  Three quotes come to mind which we should consider as we launch a series of virtual town hall meetings related to our initiative, ACT: Action for Cultural Transformation.

The first quote is the following: “We will stand up for what is right, for what is fair and what is just. Health care is a right and not a privilege.”  As we search for improvements to the care of our patients, this quote should be our moral compass.  As clinicians, we should seek to strip away those “race” based correction factors that contribute to additional structural…

All Lives Matter in Academic Medicine, Article By: Eve Higginbotham SM, MD, Diana Harris, MBe, PhD and Katherine Stamper, MBA

By Eve J. Higginbotham, SM, MD

While the focus recently has been on the twitter phrase, “black lives matter,” as a physician it is important to underscore the premise that all lives matter. Understandably, the amplitude of voices has increased over the past several months following the tragic deaths of unarmed black men – staunch reminders that implicit bias has had a role in shaping our country, our politics, and our hearts since the birth of our nation.

Academic medicine is certainly not exempt from such bias, with the recent perspective in the NEJM, Bias, Black Lives, and Academic Medicine, leaving the reader with an underlying sense of helplessness, considering the lack of diversity highlighted in the article. 

In the article, the authors describe the…