Let’s Honor the Mothers of Modern Gynecology

In August, my Facebook News Feed was flooded with images of the violence and hate that descended upon Charlottesville, Virginia, motivated directly by controversy surrounding the protest and subsequent removal of Confederate monuments across the South. However, during this tumultuous time, one particular post[1] caught my attention because the monument being protested was not one erected to honor Confederate soldiers, but rather to honor the “Father of Modern Gynecology.” Furthermore, the statue being protested was not located in the South like the others, but rather Central Park, in the heart of New York City. The statue at issue celebrates a man who mutilated the bodies of black women without their consent, rather than memorializing and honoring the brave young women who suffered at his hands. I was deeply moved by the image before me and immediately disgusted by the fact that I had lived in ignorance so long about the horrors performed at the hands of Dr. James Marion Sims.

Professor Tanya Marsh Quoted on Marketplace

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images Professor Tanya Marsh of Wake Forest University School of Law was recently quoted on Marketplace. She described how restrictive covenants in leases for grocery stores limit future food accessibility for local residents. Read the piece by  Peter Balonon-Rosen and Lizzie O'Leary here: https://www.marketplace.org/2018/01/12/wealth-poverty/when-grocery-stores-close-little-legal-phrase-can-prevent-new-ones-opening Listen here: https://www.marketplace.org/2018/01/12/wealth-poverty/when-grocery-stores-close-little-legal-phrase-can-prevent-new-ones-opening/popout

Their Stories Matter: Effectively Counseling Clients with Breast Cancer

In the early 1980s, when a woman was diagnosed with breast cancer it felt like a death sentence.  At least that was the way I felt, as a 10-year-old, when my mother told me that she had breast cancer.  I immediately thought, “My mom is going to die.” After the shock of the initial diagnosis, my mother discussed treatment.  She would have a mastectomy, and all of her lymph nodes would be removed.  The results of her surgery would set the course for additional treatment.

Legality and Morality of Physician-Assisted Suicide: Perspectives on Choice in Relation to Theology, Conviction, and Medical Ethics

By: Milan K. Sheth, M.A. in Biomedicine-Eastern Mennonite University The legality and ethics of palliative physician-assisted suicide (PAS) has been a controversial debate as individuals continue to question the righteousness of doctors assisting in the suicide of patients with a life expectancy of six months or less (1). The purpose of this article is to …

Community Event: Am I My Brother’s Medical Keeper?

The debate over the Affordable Care Act during President Obama’s administration and the ongoing debate over the future of the ACA today makes very clear how divided we are over who should fund health care and how, what it means to provide access to good quality health care, what choices individuals and families should have …

Event Promotion: Wake Up Winston – Advocate Day and Open Mic Night

Safe Zone in Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine and the Offices of Inclusion and Diversity and Student Inclusion and Diversity at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center cordially invite you to participate on Friday October 6, 2017 in our Wake Up Winston Advocate Day and Open Mic Night featuring Donovan Livingston as MC.  This event will serve as a community …

2105: A Designer Baby Odyssey

Celeste was yanked out of a dreamless sleep by a sudden wave of vibrations traveling up her left wrist. Fumbling with the sleek ceramic face of the watch – if it could even be called a watch, with its time-telling ability often overshadowed by its myriad other capabilities – she managed to align her right index finger on the screen with the surgical-like precision that the device seemed to require. The vibrations stopped, only to be replaced by the shrill voice of Isabelle Hall, her crisis-prone assistant.

The Keeping of Cancer

In September 2014, Cassandra C. was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In re Cassandra C., 316 Conn. 476, 112 A.3d 158 (2015). For the next two months, multiple pediatric and oncology specialists urged Cassandra and her mother to begin chemotherapy treatment for Cassandra’s cancer. All physicians agreed that, with immediate treatment, Cassandra would have a high likelihood of cure.

Pieces of My Memories: A Poem to Alzheimer’s

Alyea Pierce is an author, public speaking and poetry coach, and performer. She is the Assistant Director for Department of Leadership and Experiential Learning at Rutgers University. She describes her purpose with spoken word as one to provide a voice for the unheard – those silenced in some way. In her work, she strives to tell stories as truthfully as possible, whether in describing experiences with race, gender, cancer, autism, or Alzheimer’s. In this TEDx talk in Huntsville, Alabama, Alyea shares a spoken word piece about overcoming the challenges of Alzheimer’s within her family.

Better Babies: A Commentary on Modern Eugenics with the History of Virginia

I could feel it again – my mother’s gaze examining me as we sat at the coffee table. I had just updated her on my current medical status: my ongoing battle against the deadly duo of severe allergies and ever present eczema. I often joke of my unfortunate circumstances, but the one person who will never take my health lightly is my mom. She finally broke the awkward silence between us: “You know I’m so hard on you about your health because I feel guilty, right? I see you suffering and I feel responsible because I gave you bad genes.”