We’re devoting this week’s show to a closer look at the medical professionals fighting to preserve public health.
In Ukraine, as the war enters its second year, health officials are concerned with more than just battle wounds. The war is threatening to upend major health gains, for example vaccinating the public against polio. Health officials are even finding some creative solutions to keep the ball rolling.
We’ll also hear the story of a woman named Dr. Rosandra Daywalker whose shocking departure from a medical residency program has raised questions about the treatment of Black doctors and other underrepresented groups in the medical field.
The reporter who broke that story last year was Usha Lee McFarling, the national science correspondent for "STAT." McFarling is also known as a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist for explanatory reporting.
According to McFarling’s article "‘It was stolen from me’: Black doctors are forced out of training programs at far higher rates than white residents," Black doctors only make up roughly 5% of all medical residents in the US, but about 20% of those who are dismissed or withdrew.
Her story and the numbers she cited were given new credence in February when the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) released a study that encompassed 18 years of data with similar findings.
Usha Lee McFarling joins us to talk about how she researched this story, and what it means for the health outcomes of Black communities in the United States.
Plus, why Western programs aimed at attracting Ghana’s nurses are raising alarm bells, and a visit to a barber shop in Istanbul.
A note to listeners: This episode was originally published on March 1, 2023. The revised episode published on March 2 has further clarified the nature of the data collected on the rate of attrition among Black medical residents with the wording "dismissed or withdrew."