by Lauren Biagioli, BS
I attended the American Association of Medical Colleges Health Workforce Research Conference in Chicago on May 5-6. The conference’s focus was on issues surrounding the workforce mainly geared towards physicians. My biggest hope going into this conference was being able to see how medical professionals think so that maybe I could brainstorm some solutions to bridging the gap between public health and medicine. It wasn’t until the second day at the plenary session, Patient’s View of the Health Workforce: Who Speaks for Them?, that I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Lisa de Saxe Zerden talk about the LGTBQ community. Her focus was in oncology so she spoke to her knowledge base. She was the first presenter that I encountered that stood up in defense of an underserved community and basically told the audience to stop stigmatizing the LGTBQ community and to treat their needs. She was not shy to point out the errors that physicians are making in their care. In a relatively conservative environment she pushed the envelope and gave me the glimmer of hope that I was looking for. Sadly, I think there are few Dr. Lisa de Saxe Zerdens in the field of medicine at this time. The finding leads me to believe that the bridging of the gap is going to be incremental. In most of the presentations there was discussion of research findings but a lack of how prevention efforts might address the issues. If we could bridge the gap here and work together I think we could do much more for our country’s health and provide less of a burden on our health system, especially in the rural populations, which was a population emphasized during this conference.
Regardless of how I might have felt during the conference, I believe that I have a better understanding of some topics. Although I might not have been able to brainstorm a solution to bridging the gap, I was at least exposed to why the gap exists, which is giving me better insight to how this problem perpetuates and how steps can be made to improve the system we have in place. I feel confident that more Dr. Lisa de Saxe Zerdens will enter the field of medicine and will be instrumental in bridging the gap to public health.
Lauren Biagioli is a first-year MPH student, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. She plans to graduate in May 2017. Her interests include child abuse, child marriage, human trafficking, immigrant equity, and highly vulnerable children. She also loves nutrition, exercising, and being with her friends.
