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Summer Love, Isn't it Beautiful?
24 Plays13 hours ago
Welcome to Season 6 of SNMA Presents: The Lounge!
Join our hosts Dr. Isabella Ntigbu, Dr. Dumebi Okocha and Jared Jeffrey as they discuss this season of Love Island USA, new celebrity power couples, the latest trends in infectious disease, as well as the Big Beautiful things going on in Washington.
To share your thoughts on our discussion of if you have any questions to ask our hosts, email podcast@snma.org for a chance to be featured on the show!
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed on our podcast do not reflect the official stance of the Student National Medical Association.
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Transcript
Join the SMA External Affairs Committee
00:00:00
Speaker
The views expressed on this podcast represent only those of the hosts and do not represent the views of the Student National Medical Association. Got a creative spark? Want to use it to uplift and empower the SMA community?
00:00:12
Speaker
Join the SMA External Affairs Committee. Whether you're into PR and engagement, graphic design or video, marketing or podcasting, there's a place for you on our team. This is your chance to express your creativity while advancing the SMA mission and amplifying the voices of our members.
00:00:26
Speaker
If ready to make your mark, we want you on our team. Got any more questions? Email us at externalfares at snma.org. To access the applications, click the links in the description box below.
Hosts' Introduction and Summer Stories
00:00:37
Speaker
Now, let's start the show.
00:00:56
Speaker
All right. Welcome to S&MA Presents The Lounge. Whether you're a student in the lounge, doctor's lounge, or lounging around at home, get ready to join the S&MA for meaningful conversation on topics affecting minorities in medicine and groups that often sit at the margins of healthcare.
00:01:11
Speaker
I'm Dr. Jamebe, and some of us are still in the thick of summer vacation. Not me, let me tell you. But anyway, while others may be getting ready for new responsibilities in the hospital, I'm curious to know, i mean, you're also getting ready for...
00:01:23
Speaker
Yeah. Responsibilities. I'm already already in it. That's okay. You're already there. But did you do any traveling prior? yeah So thankfully, i definitely did some traveling. You know, I'm a travel girly.
00:01:37
Speaker
I got to go to Nigeria, Kenya, and Zanzibar May. And this was actually right before. um yeah this was like right before ah my graduation. So this like traveled. Yeah, traveled right before graduation. And then moved over on to ah Rhode Island for ah residency. And now we're just kind of, you know, taking it day by day. But I actually had my very first day in the ED today. So.
00:02:03
Speaker
Oh my God. Girl, was crazy. It was crazy. I know. The ED is a wild place. It's very wild. It is very wild. Yeah. Tell the people who you are.
00:02:14
Speaker
i Oh, yeah. Sorry, y'all. ok i am doctor is a availabl Okay. Okay. The student doctor has has left the building. we are now we are now in the doctor status. We thank God. um Yeah. And good to see everyone again or sorry, hear everyone or connect with everyone again ah who listens and follows the lounge.
00:02:36
Speaker
Yeah, Isabella, you're definitely a travel girly for sure, for sure. I actually never see Mr. Tripp. I feel like you take one every year. um What's going on, everybody? My name is aspiring student Dr. Jared Jeffrey.
00:02:47
Speaker
And for this year, I'm not doing too much traveling. um I am working two jobs and working on my applications, so not too much traveling. I am turning 30 this year. Woo-woo! So, um, I have a bro's trip planned to Spain.
00:03:02
Speaker
We are going to be hitting Ibiza. It's going to be cool. Nothing too crazy. I'm just trying to get the guys together. You know what i'm saying? Everybody's making a little money, a little bit established, a little bit stable. So big bro's trip for 30. Um, but nothing, crate nothing too crazy.
00:03:16
Speaker
What about you do maybe? Yeah, that's what's up for me. haven't done any recent traveling. I'm trying to think. Yeah, I honestly haven't traveled much lately. The last place I was in it was like Jacksonville and that was a couple months ago.
00:03:30
Speaker
um i had vacation last week, but I just used it to like hunker down on the step three that I'm supposed to take. yeah But the rest was nice. And sometimes like traveling is more work than like rounding because it's like you're in the hot sun and all that stuff. So it was good to just like kind of chill, relax, wake up late, sleep late, watch my TV shows. So I love that. We're all pretty good.
00:03:53
Speaker
I love that. Period. Yes. Um, yeah, well, anyway, ah while we're kind of thinking about summer, unfortunately, you know, it is behind us doctors, but hopefully for our listeners, it is still, yeah, yeah. Hopefully you guys are still experiencing a little bit more summer. I know some of our med students are probably getting ready to go back to, so, um, we're all in different stages, but regardless, I hope everyone had a great summer, but you know, like usual, we have to kick it off with our favorite part of the show.
Love Island: Representation and Biases
00:04:23
Speaker
it is time to run the list. So for our preclinical students running the patient list on the wards, it allows the team to address pressing matters of the day. In this segment of the show, we'll be discussing some recent events in medicine and beyond affecting our communities and the populations we serve.
00:04:37
Speaker
I am so happy to start off with this topic. who I know. have you I was like, and it's so crazy too, because I was not at the, I was not at the, um what's it called? The topics meeting. So I was surprised when I saw Love Island.
00:04:51
Speaker
I said, no, I was like, not. My team members have been locked in the way I've listened. When I tell you Love Island has been pulled for chats. Oh my, pulled for chats, exploring the villa. Like,
00:05:03
Speaker
I am currently exploring the villa of the hospital, but I wish was exploring the villa of Fiji. Okay. Because listen, okay. But before we start, what team are you? That's a very important question.
00:05:14
Speaker
I have been swayed the last couple of weeks, the last two weeks, and I am now Nicolandria. Period! I wasn't a believer before. I was not a believer before.
00:05:25
Speaker
feel like the editing people, the producers did a bad job showcasing that there was stuff there. cause I honestly didn't catch that anything was there. so i thought they were just pairing up just to like kind of make it to the end.
00:05:38
Speaker
Yeah. But then on TikTok and then they're going to Disney together and they're doing all this stuff. They're going all together. said, oh, shoot. This may be a bit real, you know? Okay.
00:05:49
Speaker
We love the vision. We love like, I thought there were so many converts the last couple of weeks. Yeah. love that. So this is nonsense. Yeah. no i am proud to say i have been a nickel andrew stand not since the beginning but since production actually gave us a chance to see them as a couple so during uh when they both got done from casa yeah and i i and they were on their first date in that little secret forest or whatever was like oh wait this is like looking like something and like since then went down like this rabbit hole like a nickel andrea like um
00:06:22
Speaker
I don't know conspiracy theory or whatever and not knowing that it actually existed but the thing is that I feel like I kind of like missed those initial signs because I think the Sierra and Bella thing kind of distracted me but then when I saw I was like oh wait i actually like this and then since I saw it and I liked it I actually kept on rooting that I hope this actually happens and I did go into like the Lulu the Lululand with them so love that you are now converted Yes.
00:06:45
Speaker
so You know, yeah. So, but anyway, I don't want to get too much in the weeds. We're just kind of standing our favorites right now. Also, you know, shout out to Shell Ace. I mean, whatever. Shell Ace. I'm glad they made it. He was playing in the beginning, but you know. Okay. He was playing in the beginning. Too much.
00:07:00
Speaker
my issue was with ace that was my issue was with i was like is he really interested in shelly the way he keeps on not choosing her i was kind of yeah confused as what was going on yeah yeah but i think now i think he's just someone who's used to kind of like keeping all of his like his emotions close to his chest until he feels like he really like is locked down with you and i think like once he knew okay i can trust shelly and like she's really for me i think that's when he actually like you know was committed to her so i like them now they're cute um But anyway, let's for all of our listeners who like are like, what the heck is Love Island? Like I've never watched it. I'll be surprised though, because levo this season was so popular.
00:07:33
Speaker
um But just yeah, but just to kind of give like a quick rundown. So Love Island is ah a widely popular popular international reality television franchise is and is emblematic, or I would say representative of the complexities of modern dating. It has also sparked some heated discussions, though, among fans about the desirability of black women and darker complexion people on and off air.
00:07:52
Speaker
So, you know, last season we did have um some popular ones like Jenna and Serena. I didn't watch last season, but I heard a lot of different tropes about them. um And, you know, ah the show, which actually aired ah the finale of seat sub the seventh season for US recently,
00:08:08
Speaker
ah this Sunday and is currently airing its 12th season of the UK version cast conventionally attractive Islanders who are generally in their early so late twenties for six to eight weeks day in a luxury Villa men and women compete for long lasting relationships and a cash prize. So that's kind of like the general spiel, but I would say we're kind of talking about this today on the podcast because we want to talk about some of the controversy that's been surrounding black women on the show, particularly the dark skin black women that we've seen in the USA season.
00:08:36
Speaker
Um, NBC news kind of, like I said, gave us ah an overview highlight of it. Um, but people magazine was actually in a lot of controversy recently because there was a promotional article that was posted about the final couples, like who made it to the finale, which was Brian Amaya, Amaya, um, Harrison Pepe, uh, Pepe,
00:08:58
Speaker
Nicol Andrea and then what's the last one? Huda and Chris. Yeah, that one I blurted out for my memory. I blurted that one for my memory. Yeah, that was there too, though. That was there too. Whatever. Huda.
00:09:11
Speaker
we We need a separate show for Huda. I'm sorry. we need a separate show for her. Okay. Yeah, you know, I actually wish we had, we were planning to talk about her. I wish we had more time to talk about her because, yeah. I'm a mommy.
00:09:22
Speaker
You know? Yeah, I'm a mamacita. She's a mamacita. And... good listen, like, you know, at the Huda, the Huda HQ, whatever they call themselves, they have been terrorizing people on social media. So I actually don't know. Like, somebody you know, please please come and grab your, your, your, your sister.
00:09:43
Speaker
here people. Um, anyway, so basically, yeah, people magazine, they publish this really controversial article about the final couples. And there was a featured image showing all six of the finalists mid celebration at the phone party.
00:09:57
Speaker
And for whatever reason, the only black woman in the photo was not visible and seemed to be kind of visibly cropped out. And so this kind of sparked a lot of controversy. People were wondering, like, why would people crop out the only Black woman that's made it to the finale?
00:10:12
Speaker
Like, a lot of people felt like it was, like, intentional that they did that. um And so the the person who actually posted the story, Charna Flam, quickly deleted her tweet after all the backlash poured out.
00:10:23
Speaker
um Like I said, a lot of people thought, this seems like a microaggression aggression to me. Like, why would you black crop out the only Black woman there? um However, you know, she kind of... deleted it never actually took accountability never actually said anything about it until people were kind of in a frenzy um well i don't know like i think it's really interesting people choosing to do this what are your thoughts about what happened do you feel like this was a message that people was trying to send or do you think this was like i don't know a Innocent coincidence. Like what do you think really went on here? People were sleeping on Alandria from the beginning. Right. um Because of how she looks.
00:11:01
Speaker
Even all these, not us, but all these other podcasters before Alandria actually became like a fan favorite. Right. Or like was close to winning, right?
00:11:12
Speaker
She was talked so poorly about in many podcasts. Like some people are saying she was not that pretty. Some people are saying that no one likes her in the villa or, you know, all these other type of things.
00:11:23
Speaker
So it wasn't just People Magazine. Like a lot of people were talking bad about Alandria. So whether or not people... meant to like cut her out or not, not too sure about that. But I will say it's like time and time again, and these like love reality shows is like when I was younger and I was watching like the bachelorette with my mom and all those other things like that, I would always be like, there'll always be like one black girl.
00:11:46
Speaker
She'd get, up she'd stay for maybe two weeks and then she'd get broken up with and, you know, not on the cast anymore. Right. And so I feel like now times are changing where like,
00:12:00
Speaker
Black girls can't be the bombshells or i have always been the bombshells, but now it's like more, you know, accepted, quote unquote. So it's just disheartening because it kind of proves like, or it's kind of trying to show that like black women don't belong in these yeah ah reality shows and these dating scenes.
00:12:17
Speaker
And then like people, um, you know, dismissing like Nicolandria and stuff just because yeah part of it's also like, it because they're
Megan Thee Stallion's Dating Life
00:12:26
Speaker
interracial or like Nick could, couldn't like someone like Alandria, right? Please. Can you speak on it? Can you just speak on it? Oh my God. Like, but now everyone's flipping around because now she's with Nick. Right. So it's like, is it a white savior thing? Are people now hyping her up because she's with Nick? Cause when she was Taylor, no one was hyping her up like that.
00:12:45
Speaker
Honestly though, Taylor hated her. I'm sorry. Like, yeah. Um, yeah believe what he i like clark yeah yeah i like I can believe though why people didn't like Taylor for her because Taylor honestly gave gave her nothing. like He, to me did not try. He wasn't courting her. He never affirmed her. so i couldn't but like i I see what you're saying, though, in terms of like some people maybe be flipped because maybe they just didn't want Taylor for her and like maybe preferred Nick. If I say they're if they care more about, uh, or they trust people who look like Nick more than people who look like Taylor. But I will say like, I would have given Taylor that if he didn't treat a Landry the way that he did treat her. just want to make that clear.
00:13:22
Speaker
He wasn't, he didn't do think really anything for her. And he never, he never, ah like, made her feel reassured the way that Nick, I felt like reassured Alandri. And I feel like we shouldn't stay in struggle situations just because we want to be with a black man. I'm i'm all for dipping out and finding someone who like affirms you. So, but I see what your point though. I'm not negating your point. I see it but I just wanted to make that. think she never changed with him and with her or like with him and with Nick.
00:13:46
Speaker
So it's like, what, Like, if you're a fan of her, you're a fan of her, regardless of who she's with. But I feel like once she got paired with Nick, I don't know it's because like she looked happier or whatever, but it was like, now all the people that weren't stans for her became stans for her. I can see that. i can see that. It's kind of weird to me.
00:14:03
Speaker
and don't know. I can see that. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I mean, i think the conversation or at least the situation that happened in People Magazine definitely kind of makes us think a little bit more about the way that Black people are perceived on reality television, just in the public period. So I'm hoping that Alandria's presence can be an example for people to Kind of have more grace for black people on television know that we cannot act like other people We can't act like our white counterparts because we will be judged differently and a lot of times also to when you don't fit that stereotype of a black woman being Whatever loud or aggressive or whatever they like to paint on us. Then sometimes you also may be questioning It does she really is she really being authentic?
00:14:41
Speaker
Does she really like the person I feel like alandra is a shy awkward black girl I can see a little bit of her and me and I feel like people kind of didn't really they didn't really but They kind of like dismissed a lot of who she was just because she didn't fit those like boxes that they have for black women. so And even with Shelly too, she said that she's the one who actually cried the most in the villa. like She came out and said that. And it's very interesting that most of the scenes she came off more hard and more like, you know, and I feel like they never show like the softer side of black women. Like the fact that Shelly cried the most in the villa is actually kind of crazy to me because there wasn't a single scene where she cried, you know? So I just feel like there's still a lot of work to be done in reality TV.
00:15:25
Speaker
But speaking of the news and hot couples on the block, um have you guys heard about Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson um making their red carpet debut. I did see that. my God.
00:15:38
Speaker
yes they're so cute working out in the gym yeah and also when she was showing the gifts that clay got her with the labubu or whatever like that he bought her i love them i love them honestly i'm happy for meg i think and it's so funny because meg was actually she did a guest feature in love island and so i think it's so cute she was just like just made a little pop-up in a love a reality tv show center i love but she also too is experience experiencing love in her real life so i thought that was so cute i love that for her um yeah clay seems like a good guy he mentioned like wishing that he could have met her parents in real life and like i think that's so beautiful like considering that she's gone through so much in but personal life and public life and i think he's i think from what i can see so far he values her even just like um as a person and not just her being meg the stallion which i think is so important so i love it for her i think yeah for sure and i think
00:16:27
Speaker
Maybe I'm just like reading between the lines. like All the stuff again like that she's been through, not only like with family stuff, but then also in her dating relationships. I feel like things have probably been brewing for a while. and I don't think she would just like p plotp like say, here's my man, but without yeah thoroughly vetting him and stuff like that and making sure that his intentions were true before putting him out on Instagram or like walking um the red carpet with
Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Discussion
00:16:51
Speaker
him. so Right, right.
00:16:53
Speaker
I don't really know Clay Thompson's dating history in terms of like has he dated women like Megan this out I mean i don't know that's a good question honestly was trying to see honestly I think so it's funny because right before she started dating Klay Thompson she was dating a different backslide player i think yeah yeah um I forgot his name these people I mean they're not really I would say like household names but definitely like people who are doing well in their career and I think people know Klay Thompson I think a little bit more than the last guy she was with I wish I i had yeah a lot of people were saying though I can actually switch it up a lot of people were saying that ah like wasn't she just dating him a couple months ago why did she already hop to Klay I mean she's that's live she's young and fine like she could do what she wants i think is that whatever she want and I think that's the again like part of like the whole Love Island thing tied with the Megan Thee Stallion thing
00:17:49
Speaker
It's like what really made me mad like during Love Island and what kind of makes me mad with Megan V. Salad. It's like people yeah are – like held to something that happened long time ago and they are not allowed to evolve and change.
00:18:03
Speaker
They're not allowed to evolve. Some people, when they date around, they're like, oh, they're exploring their connection and they're taking this experience seriously. The minute someone wants to be tied down, they're like, well, you're not exploring. And then the minute they're exploring too much, they get booted off the island. They get booted off. Okay.
00:18:18
Speaker
And I feel like black women are not allowed to court the way that other populations are allowed to court. And celebrities, especially are not allowed to court because it's like, You date this guy. You post them.
00:18:29
Speaker
You guys break And now he's all over. And mind you, she barely posted the last two. So I found his name. Tori Craig was his name. he was He played for the Chicago Bulls. Yeah. It was like one little TikTok they posted one time in the ether. And I never seen her post it up with that man again. So I'm just kind of like, so that one TikTok y'all clocked and you never let it go.
00:18:47
Speaker
So I'm just like let her live her life. Like people date. You know, like this is, that's what she's a, she she's she's not an old woman. Like she's still young. She can do what she wants. And even if she was old, like she can still do what she wants okay like what's her name she Tracy she does she want to she doesn't care she doesn't do what she want to do i don't care Oprah been with the same man sit like it's all good it's okay Clark it okay like you
00:19:15
Speaker
ah no I love it I love it yeah no 100% but yeah I mean shout out to Meg I'm happy that she's with somebody who she actually seems like she likes lot and who actually likes her a lot and I hope they make it the distance I'm wishing her like a long fruitful relationship just soft life a soft life that's life period that's it in other news nothing really related to Megan Stallion mean she's beautiful but you know this one is not too beautiful the big beautiful girl
00:19:45
Speaker
No, you ate that. You ate that. I didn't really know how to transition. You ate.
00:19:57
Speaker
Oh, I love it. I love it. ah We have the big, beautiful bills. So on July 4th, literally on independence day, like what kind of independence? Anyway, on July 2025 and my half birthday,
00:20:08
Speaker
Trump passed the big, beautiful bill um in Congress. It was an 887-page bill um that included verbiage on the conversation of immigration into pay-and-play system by significantly increasing fees on benefit requests like asylum applications and temporary protection status.
00:20:28
Speaker
and on application seeking relief from removal by individuals facing deportation and immigration, and provides $45 billion dollars for building new immigration detention centers, including family detention facilities, and providing a single lump sum of $29.9 billion towards ICE enforcements and deportation operations, and then also funneling $46.6 billion dollars into border wall construction, among other things, including Medicaid provider taxes, Medicaid eligibility checks,
00:20:58
Speaker
Physicians fee schedule payments, Affordable Care Act reforms, and health care for immigrants. And then the big, beautiful bill also... lump some other stuff that I feel like affects us too in multiple different ways.
00:21:11
Speaker
um And also included a 257,500 lifetime limit for all federal student loan borrowers. I'm going to tell you now I've exceeded it. And it eliminates the grad plus loan program, which allowed students to borrow to the fullest amount of ah for their college attendance.
00:21:28
Speaker
And then for future medical students, like the people listening to our podcast, um whose education is very expensive, this changes could be particularly worrying. um because how are we going to shell out the cash when yeah the average cost for private schools is 390k?
00:21:44
Speaker
So I guess a couple questions is, one, how is this to impact our patients? Because a lot of our residency programs are based in like big safety net areas that care for the immigrant population in that area.
00:21:55
Speaker
And then two, how does it impact us? Like, and our future doctors, you know, like, are we going to have a short supply? is it going to be for the rich? I mean, it's, has been for the rich for a long time, but does that like create less equality?
00:22:08
Speaker
What are your opinions on this? Yeah. Well, I think it's definitely a multifold question because to me, it affects everybody. It affects students, whether you're a medical student, regular college student, um,
00:22:22
Speaker
patient human being, like it just affects everything. And I think that's the really sad part is that everyone's going to feel the brunt of this bill. Um, I think it's sad because we already are facing significant healthcare care structural issues. I would say that affects people based on socioeconomic status race, language, all those different things and we're fighting that. And then we're even fighting just like some attacks that have been made on a woman's health front. You as an OB joy, and I'm sure know it very, very you know well.
00:22:51
Speaker
And now we got to fight against funding for things that actually help patient care somewhat stay afloat. Um, I really feel bad for the patients, especially let's say something like the emergency department where we depend so much on Medicare, you know, pay like as, as pay for, ah our patients and covering their bills. And now I'm just like, how is this going to affect people being able to access the emergency department?
00:23:15
Speaker
Um, And we already see a lot of glaring health disparities that have come into the emergency department. So like I said, this is going to further exacerbate it. It's sad. it's It's really sad as someone who's entered a profession where we want to serve people and the government is basically...
00:23:33
Speaker
blocking that when really the government should have no say, in my opinion, when it comes to healthcare, patient care, yeah that's something that like, you know, perfect like physicians, nurses, PAs, whatever. We are the ones that do that every day and the government doesn't know what the heck we do. So I think like them trying to, you know, I think, i think it's really such a disappointment when it comes to us as say future doctors, like people, let's say I want to talk about like medical school.
00:23:54
Speaker
We just talked about how expensive I want to re re kind of state what you've said regarding, the median cost of medical students education, which is an average of 390, at least for a private institution is 390, almost 400,000 are the median cost of an in-state public school is almost 300,000. So you're telling me now, how are people going afford that? Like, are people going to go to med school knowing that they don't have the tuition is rising?
00:24:20
Speaker
Yeah. Like every year tuition increases. So it's, Honestly, really sad, like, on both fronts. One, i don't look at my student loans anymore. i Jesus has paid the price, so I'm not even worried about it anymore because who else going to pay? Like, who else is going to pay? Because it's not me. Okay. Like, what are we talking about? So, I feel bad for my, like, for the, you know, our patients. Like, for instance, like, a lot of times,
00:24:45
Speaker
Um, a lot of these patients really don't get cares with the ED, like doing our bedside ultrasounds to date a pregnancy, you know, diagnosing a miscarriage, trending quants, all that stuff like that happens through the ED.
00:24:57
Speaker
Um, so the fact that even that is at risk and they can't get like a emergency Medicaid or anything like that, or they're trying to attack that is crazy to me.
00:25:08
Speaker
Um, we had this one sad story where, um, had a patient she been trying to get pregnant. um She finally got pregnant, but like she had an ultrasound. It was like a PUL. So like they couldn't, like the quant was too low to like locate the pregnancy.
00:25:21
Speaker
She also like got newly diagnosed with diabetes, had like an A1C of 13%, but she couldn't afford her diabetes medication. And she also couldn't afford to get an ultrasound to like date her pregnancy or even and like locate if it's an ectopic or yeah an abnormal intrauterine, whatever.
00:25:37
Speaker
So I'm like calling her almost every day telling her like present to the ED, but she's like scared to because one, she can't pay because she doesn't you know she doesn't have a job. And then two, she doesn't she doesn't know the implications of what's going on. So she's scared to go.
00:25:52
Speaker
she finally came because I was concerned that she's in DKA and she was like having vaginal bleeding. So I was concerned that she's miscarrying and diabetes is you know, very high chance of miscarrying. and then unfortunately she finally came in, but she had already lost the pregnancy at that point. um So this is affecting people in like all different specialties, you know, and I think as doctors not getting loans, we're not asking for, you know, grants to go to medical school so that we can work minimum wage and residency and help and work in safety net hospitals. we're asking for loans to serve our community and,
00:26:27
Speaker
The fact that there's an attack on, I just don't understand what's the point of yeah attacking that. Cause we pay it back. It's not like, you know what I mean? So I don't see what's the point of, you know, Jesus did pay the price, but at the end the day, I'm going to have to show up front costs and I'll pay on the back end. Yeah. But mean, you're not going to chase me for any money. going enjoy my life.
00:26:51
Speaker
Um, when it's time to pay, I'll pay. But I just think it's really unfortunate what this, and but what this bill is doing. And the fact that it's just like it started, like, at first I thought it was just like theoretical. I didn't know they signed it into law on July 4th. I kind of missed that part.
00:27:08
Speaker
So all this stuff is, happening i don't know it's unfortunate this administration it's really unfortunate and it's kind of like you know once again we are a non-partisan ye group at snma the podcast is not necessarily a reflect or what we say on the podcast not necessarily reflection of what the sma stands for but i will say that like we are in medicine right we do work in these spaces and we know the direct implications it's going have on patients and also just on future doctors or even current doctors. And so I think that people just should keep that in mind when they hear these kinds of legislation being passed and thinking about whoever who's determining which laws are being passed, whether it's Congress or Supreme Court or whoever.
00:27:54
Speaker
But like we, I think as citizens need to figure out how we want to also advocate for ourselves and for our patients, you know, to those who are medicine. Cause I just feel like, when are we going to just like fight back? Cause I'm just like, you know, like I'm just really curious to see how this is going to affect people who had all these plans to go to med school or who had all, you know, patients who had all these plans to get care somewhere and now no longer have Medicare. Like,
00:28:23
Speaker
Because I really feel like people just, we need to just start fighting back somehow. I don't know what, how we're going to do it. but it's just ah I don't know. We can't sit down and doubted let this happen. I just see it. We have to rise up.
00:28:41
Speaker
I mean, and then I'm over here rereading this and say, eliminating the grad plus loan. like what so it's because like people take out loans for undergrad too right yeah so is this you know undergrad plus med school some people get a little mph in between the little mba in between is that total you only get 257 000 for all of your about gonna develop the vaccines who's going to do the drug trials who's gonna Social workers, professors, all those things that require higher level education.
00:29:16
Speaker
Who's going to do that now? Yeah. No, 100%. don't know how it's going to happen, to be honest with you. i Yeah. Well, I feel like at this point, we got a it it once we see the implications and the effects, I think people will really understand what's going on and they'll figure out how to, whether it's signing a petition or protesting. I don't know, but I feel like at some point we just, we can't just sit, we can't just sit down and let this stuff happening. We got, it doesn't matter ah who's in office at this point. It's like, this bill is ridiculous. Like however you want to spin it. who has made my
00:29:48
Speaker
Yeah. It's not about who made it. It's about what was made. We don't want it. You know, like we just
Dr. Heavenly Kimes' Political Run
00:29:52
Speaker
don't want it. That's literally what it is. So, I mean, it it whatever politics and the nonsense we've been experiencing when it comes to politics, we've already talked a little bit about entertainment and celebrity culture.
00:30:04
Speaker
What happens if one day you hear that both have been combined? So politics and celebrity culture. Right. has been combined recently um with Married to Medicine star, Dr. Heavenly Kimes.
00:30:16
Speaker
She is actually running for Georgia State Representative. um i was a huge Married to Medicine fan, i would say, like mostly during undergrad. I think that's when I watch a lot of the episodes. honest with I don't really keep up with it as much anymore, so I don't necessarily know what's going on.
00:30:32
Speaker
But I remember Dr. Heavenly being like a very huge presence on the show, having like a lot of personality and just like, you know, ah really representing the show. would say both probably positively and negatively because she did get into some drama too on the show. I remember. She's always a drama. Yeah, she always brought the drama, but she was very entertaining. And I and i always loved her story. I always loved how she talked about like what made her become a dentist and like her being the first dentist in her family or first doctor, I think in her family period. So I think that was always inspiring to hear. Um, and she has a beautiful family. She's married to another, ah black physician. So I think it's, you know, she has a beautiful story, and but yeah, ah um, just to kind of quote Bravo TV. So,
00:31:12
Speaker
Dr. Heavenly Kimes, she's a dentist who's passionate about a lot of things, including politics, and she's now running to be elected as Georgia State Representative. In District 93, under the Democratic ticket, Heavenly declared her candidacy to people and explained her motives for running.
00:31:25
Speaker
Quote, I'm not a career politician. um Quote, she said a statement, I'm a mom, a doctor, a business owner, and I'm not afraid to stand up for what I believe in. I'm running to serve and ready to work. Mom of three told people that people that she was inspired by her patients to go into politics.
00:31:38
Speaker
Quote, I've spent my life helping people build confidence, start businesses and take control of their future, she said. Now I'm bringing that same passion to the state capitol. District 93 serves someone who deserves someone who's not just talking, but doing um our people deserve real representation, someone who understands both the struggles and the solutions, end quote.
00:31:56
Speaker
She added. So I think that's super interesting. You know, her wanting to kind of branch out a little bit and do politics as a as a dentist. um This is not the first time we've heard of someone who was originally medicine do politics. Ben ben Carson tried it.
00:32:12
Speaker
ah maybe Maybe he shouldn't have tried it. Gifted hands. Gifted hands. I will say preferred him when he was just a neurosurgeon. not going to lie to you. But hey, you know, there's been multiple people.
00:32:28
Speaker
Dr. Oz tried it too. God. Dr. Oz. Yeah. Okay. a couple of people have tried it. Um, I will say that I think there's a lot of ways that her being a a reality TV star might, you know, influence her campaign. I mean, she definitely has a lot of reach just due to being a star on reality TV. But I think there's also like some of these challenges with like, is she going to have credibility because of the way she's been portrayed on reality TV, right?
00:32:51
Speaker
She's very outspoken. Um, this can be both seen as a strength and weakness and just kind of thinking about, um, what issues is she actually going to really focus on during her, candidacy, I guess, during her tenure, if she did become Georgia, ah Georgia state representative.
00:33:05
Speaker
So yeah what are your thoughts on kind of like her running for this position? Do you think? Yeah, I think it's great that people in medicine, nurses, doctors, I feel like nurses tend to like be the ones that do a lot of lobbying and stuff like that. And I really wish that I think physicians don't have as much time theoretically, but it's good that, um,
00:33:29
Speaker
you know, healthcare workers are deciding to go into politics because like, yeah, a lot of again, like we had talked about previously, a lot of the changes that politicians are making, they don't have any idea what they're talking about. They've never been and to a hospital and work directly with patients.
00:33:43
Speaker
um And I think, Dr. Kimes, theoretically, she, you know, her husband's also a physician. She's a dentist. Her right children are well-educated as well. So I think they'd be like the perfect family to be in politics.
00:33:57
Speaker
I will say her persona on TV is very questionable. However, would hate for someone to judge me of, you know, how I am at work, how I am outside of work, you know, and how I am in different settings. We all have that side of us, like how I talk to patients, not how I talk to my friends. You know what mean? She's also an entertainer and she's entertaining. Right. So reality TV is still a form of entertainment. It's not scripted, I don't think, but like she brings the heat because that's what she's paid to do on that reality TV show.
00:34:27
Speaker
So don't think she's going to act a fool, you know, like. In the Georgia state representative position. um But unfortunately people. That's her like. Most. um Like her largest platform. Because it's on Bravo.
00:34:41
Speaker
So I hope people don't. people are going to judge her for it. Or anything like that. But I think it's a great idea for her to try. it And even if she doesn't win. Right. i think sometimes. It takes that one person to do it so the next person can try. and then maybe like they'll get it. You know what I mean? Or like instill something someone else. Like, oh, maybe she didn't get it. I saw her mistakes.
00:35:02
Speaker
you know let me try and do it this way. You know what i mean? It's very interesting that also Quad, I think, is supposed to be her campaign manager or something like that too. and Her and are really good friends.
00:35:16
Speaker
Quad? Yeah. I think that's because Quad went on TV and said, I would love to be her campaign manager and blah, blah, blah. I think she can do it. so It's very interesting because they're like sisters, but they butthead like sisters.
00:35:27
Speaker
It's very interesting in that way. but I think Quad would be a great ah manager for forget her campaign she has the style she's very eloquent so I think definitely give it a try and I hope she wins but I don't know who running against so maybe I want the other person to win I don't know give it a try it's funny give it a try it's really give it a try man that's all you can really mean no quad I didn't actually didnt know about the quad piece I didn't know quad uh was uh her campaign manager which yeah I think quad was always very like
00:35:59
Speaker
keep it cute very put together on the show and she gave me very like boss girl energy so i yeah could see her doing a good job with with that i i was just surprised to hear her doing it because i'm just like oh you so we're picking like actual friends from the cast right i was even contesta was trying to be surgeon general for a minute like she got that mph Um, and she was away from her. That was like her whole storyline the beginning. Like she got her MPH, I think far away from like in Tennessee or something like that.
00:36:29
Speaker
And then she was trying to like work her way up to a certain general. And I think she even like posted an Instagram video like a year or two ago saying like, she really wants, she still really want to be nominated for like surgeon general. So, all right I think,
00:36:43
Speaker
I would love more black doctors to be involved in politics and yeah those positions. And I think that's how get our voice across and they speak for us while we're, you know, in the hospitals
Texas Floods and Health Impacts
00:36:53
Speaker
hustling. So.
00:36:54
Speaker
100% no I I definitely think I would like to see how it goes you know once again other people have tried it before who were dentists or physicians and we've even had like some people who were reality TV stars and actors also um try their luck at politics so it's been done before so I think like let's just let's just wait out and see but I'm wishing her the best of luck on her her run so yeah yep um cool so anyway we talked about politics Dr. Heavenly and just her decision to do that. She is ah Southern girly and I think it's nice that she wants to represent the South.
00:37:33
Speaker
Unfortunately, there was also some other and other crazy things that happened in the South with the floods that happened in Texas recently. um So actually according to, which source is this? Slate.com.
00:37:47
Speaker
ah During the 4th of July holiday, Central Texas experienced severe flash flooding affecting areas along the Guadalupe, San Gabriel, and San Saba Rivers. These rivers rapidly rose up to 30 feet within just a few hours, highlighting the region's ongoing vulnerability to such events. And then as of July 21st, authorities reported 135 confirmed fatalities with some individuals still unaccounted for. The flooding has resulted in damage to homes and critical infrastructure across 21 counties in central Texas. So I do think we should give a 10 to 15 second pause to honor those lives who were lost in the flood.
00:38:44
Speaker
Okay, rest in peace to those um who lost their life in the Texas floods or thinking and praying for family members or loved ones who are affected by such a tragedy.
00:38:55
Speaker
um ah do think it's... important to also note, um, some other things that happen in floods that can lead to other health issues. Um, so a recent study was actually found between 2000 and 2020 across the U S that there were actually an estimated 22,000 additional deaths attributed attributable to flooding.
00:39:15
Speaker
And, um, Pretty much that results to about 127 deaths per year from flooding. So that's just a lot of, that's a lot of deaths. And on the other hand, excess excess deaths were also caused by heart attacks, strokes, respiratory disease, and infectious disease as much as a year out from the actual flood event.
00:39:31
Speaker
um And floods like other natural disasters can cause emotional stress for people who have been displaced or lost loved ones. And that stress can also take a physical toll. And then there's even just the fact that flooding can lead to mold growth in homes, which then causes increased risks for other things, including respiratory diseases, neurologically.
00:39:47
Speaker
disorders. um So there's actually a lot of things that can result just from a flood. And so I think it's important for our listeners to know some of those health effects. um I know that personally, I did a lot of work in undergrad with ah communities, particularly island communities, St. Thomas,
00:40:04
Speaker
um who were affected by like devastating floods. And then, you know, we would go out there and help to rebiil rehabilitate them in whatever ways we could, whether that was helping to paint homes that were destroyed or work with like big but Salvation Army.
00:40:19
Speaker
um I think it was called something brother, but like we worked with a lot of different organizations, Red Cross, to help to help facilitate some form of recovery for people who were living on the island who were affected by floods. And so, you know, I think it's, it's easy for us to kind of forget our privilege, like not living in a environment where flooding can happen and really devastate and affect people's lives.
00:40:43
Speaker
And so, yeah, I definitely wanted to, you know, give, give some awareness to that. i don't know if you guys have anything else you want to add about just kind of what happened down in Texas. I think it's obviously very sad. And I feel like Texas, every time something happens in Texas, like when they have a snowstorm or something like that, I feel like they all, I don't know if it's some geographical thing, the tectonic plates. I don't know what it is. Not tectonic plates.
00:41:06
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know what it is, but it's always like, they always get hit the hardest. So my heart goes out to the people in Texas. And I remember I was five years old when Katrina hit in Mississippi and i wasn't even in the worst of it because it was in,
00:41:22
Speaker
new like mainly in New Orleans and stuff like that. But was out of school for a long time. um People weren't able to go to work. And I was five years old and I still remember like the effects that it had on our community. And we weren't even like in the heart of it.
00:41:34
Speaker
So it's really unfortunate. I'm glad that you brought up um the health consequences that comes with a flood and like for those that actually survive. And like people can have exacerbations of their chronic illnesses and things like that. So it's honestly...
00:41:49
Speaker
you know, very sad and disheartening. And hopefully um we can highlight some resources, whether on the S&MA Instagram or towards the end about things that we can do to contribute to um people getting better during this time.
00:42:04
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I definitely think, um Jared, were you about to say something? Yeah. um I was just going to throw in like um for for scale, like a frame of reference that this flood incident was like, you know, a,
00:42:19
Speaker
a lot more severe than most others. So like in the 20 year span, right from 2000 to 2020, it's estimated that there are around like 22,000 deaths from floods. So that averages to about 127 deaths per year something like that.
00:42:35
Speaker
um this incident alone has 135 confirmed fatalities you know what i'm saying um i highlight that morbid fact just to bring a question to the table would this situation have been better if perhaps we had more um
00:43:01
Speaker
federal employees in place to be able to sound alarms and give alerts and let people know that something like this is coming you know what i'm saying like um i think this is us just seeing like some of the on the ground ramifications of some of these uh changes that this administration has brought
00:43:23
Speaker
Yeah. um I think it's, I'm glad that you re-highlighted some of those statistics that were stated um because it definitely does like emphasize the, what an impact it made on the communities. I think that, um well, we see what happened with COVID, right? And there wasn't, there wasn't things in place when we were going through an entire pandemic as to how to shield ourselves or some of those things. So I think,
00:43:49
Speaker
something like floods where I, there should be a little bit more awareness about that. Cause we know that there's some areas in the United States that tend to be prone to having flooding. I would expect that there would be more like preparedness surrounding that. But like those, those iPhone alerts, you know, like the yeah the, the, the, the nuclear sound and it, and it makes you look at your phone and tells you like, Hey, severe flood warnings in these areas for this, this time.
00:44:15
Speaker
yeah I don't know about y'all, but you know New York got hit with like some torrential downpours lately. didn't get that warning. I was like driving home from work and like like having to like reroute around like puddles and stuff like that. you know I feel like it has been um discontinued at a national level.
00:44:31
Speaker
Yeah. yeah well we we I wonder what changed, but hey. um we'll we'll just I'm sure we know, but we we can just omit that part. Yeah.
00:44:43
Speaker
yeah um Yeah, I think yeah these are all good questions and things we should be thinking about. And maybe just putting out in the ether, like how can we even just as individuals try and get involved in this kind of work, whether it's through volunteer services.
00:44:58
Speaker
working with other organizations who are committed to helping to rehabilitate these areas who have been affected by these floods. I think, you know, even just what can we do as people ourselves and and and give a helping hand also matters
Bubonic Plague Case in Arizona
00:45:10
Speaker
too. So um yeah, i'm hoping I'm hoping that more of those resources either can be sought out or maybe they can come to the forefront given that there's been these deaths that have been resulted from ah maybe a lack of preparedness or just not enough ah preparation surrounding um how to prevent or at least mitigate the ramifications of this kind of natural disaster. So yeah. yeah And I think also like as med students and residents, like one thing I think that's helpful for our learning is when these type of things happen, like when I Google like, you know,
00:45:47
Speaker
if pregnant person was in flood, what would I do as an OBGYN? You know what mean? Like something like that. Like, I think knowing, think a lot of people just rely on like EM, and like other like first trauma responders to like yeah know how to handle these situations. But I think it's important, like, oh, if you're a Gen Surge resident, like how would this impact your specialty? Like how would a patient present to you in this way? like looking for different like case scenarios, not like this stuff doesn't happen, you know,
00:46:11
Speaker
all the time and like, you know, Cincinnati or wherever you are. um so like maybe like following other like med influencers are that are in your specialty and how they responded to this situation um so that you can be better prepared if this were to happen like in your area too.
00:46:28
Speaker
and Yeah, very interesting. And speaking of situations that you might be unprepared for, um there was actually an Arizona resident who unfortunately passed away from the pneumonic plague.
00:46:41
Speaker
This is the first time somebody's passed away from this illness in like some 20 some odd years. And it kind of makes you wonder if like our new attitudes towards vaccinations towards like, you know, hand hygiene towards infectious disease in general.
00:46:59
Speaker
Some of the stuff that, you know, RFK has been touting is, could be to blame.
00:47:06
Speaker
I think there has also been like a resuscitation in the measles. yeah And I don't know. i I don't like this idea of like infectious disease that it feels like we eradicated kind of coming back to the forefront, you know?
00:47:23
Speaker
um what do What do you guys think?
00:47:27
Speaker
I mean, I guess my question is, did they say where he got this from? my bo Like, just like, yes like I thought this was back in England. You know what i mean? Not England. maybe somebody died. you say like No, I think it's kind of crazy, you know, like things that are eradicated and then end up coming back. So I guess my question is like, where did it come from? You know what I mean? I'm sorry. And what do you do in those situations? You know what i mean? So...
00:48:01
Speaker
ah I don't know. Okay. It was okay. Rapid diagnostic testing confirmed that the patient new mom, is it bubonic plague or pneumonic plague? Cause it says it's saying the rapid diagnostic testing confirmed that the patient was infected with your sinia pestis. I remember learning about that sketchy. Yeah.
00:48:17
Speaker
That causes the pneumonic. Yeah. The prairie dog. And, but I thought it was, boo is it bubon? Maybe, but I know they get buboes. They get like those big swells or swellings. yeah Um,
00:48:30
Speaker
mnemonic play interesting okay y'all we we we fact checking is this bubonic or mnemonic i can't
00:48:41
Speaker
i
00:48:45
Speaker
Yeah, that's crazy. um Whatever it is, it's definitely deadly. I remember Yersinia pestis being a very deadly ah infection to acquire. So, you know, rest in peace to the resident who lost their life to this. is so This is the bubonic plague. Yeah. Bubonic plague. Okay. got So we had a little bit of a of a typo era bubonic plague, which I'm sure we've heard about.
00:49:05
Speaker
heard about Um, yeah. And it's basically, I think the patient just gets like these very large kind of like welts or they call it buboes like around their body. Um, and also it is, you get this associated very severe lung infection. And so it is a deadly disease.
00:49:21
Speaker
Um, that's really unfortunate. I don't, but I didn't think that there was a vaccine for Yersinia pestis. I don't think there's a vaccine for it.
00:49:32
Speaker
No. I don't even know how that person acquired it. So, yeah. So, not not that there this should necessarily be a vaccine. It's more so one of those things like um the infection has been, quote unquote, like eradicated, you know? Yeah. We don't see people getting infected with it anymore.
00:49:52
Speaker
And then what kind of strain is this that gentamicin doxycycline you know all the drugs didn't mean maybe because it's too far gone so yeah so what i what I can see the situation being that's gonna be like like they're gonna try to rapidly diagnose but in what line of thinking are you going to guess bubonic plague, right?
00:50:19
Speaker
Like, like, you're probably not. Not on my differential, I tell you that. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? And like, because of the bacterium, you have, you probably had to like, get it diagnosed by micro. You know, micro takes a little, little bit of time. Isn't it like a send out lab? I don't like. Yeah. Speaking from a lab tech perspective, like,
00:50:37
Speaker
You need an actual like micro facility to to diagnose this. yeah But apparently it also goes by the term pneumonic plague. I did search it up. it up It also goes by pneumonic plague, actually. There's two ways you can say it. I've never heard pneumonic plague before.
00:50:51
Speaker
so yeah you You could say either bubonic pneumonic. Because I was going to say New York Times, that's a big typo then. Because they're the ones who wrote the article. I think what it is is, it's the bubonic plague, but it causes pneumonia.
00:51:03
Speaker
pneumonia or yeah can be, yeah has been coined the pneumonic plague. I could see that. Yeah, i could definitely see that. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, whatever it's called, definitely a deadly, uh,
00:51:15
Speaker
back bacteria this is a bacteria right to be back yeah yeah um so definitely deadly and very unclear how the patient the person got it because it's not common at all so yeah very interesting just a ah very um polarizing story to say the least you know um And it kind of it just gives you one of those um something to think about that I would say as like as a clinician, you know, right. Like like somebody comes in rapidly declining.
00:51:47
Speaker
You go through your normal, you know, OK, I'm going to do some rapid testing and stuff like that. Unfortunately, this is just something that's not going to be diagnosed rapidly. you know? No, I don't think so. I think that would be very low on somebody's differential. And yeah, we're going to probably call ID, like call infectious disease if we... We're calling Fauci.
00:52:07
Speaker
Yeah, we're going to have to call them. But even then, I feel like they would have to go through a very like long rabbit hole before they figure out what it is because something like your sinia pestis i don't think is high on anybody's differential so um well yeah that's that's unfortunate rest in peace to the to this uh resident who passed away from this unfortunate disease and hopefully yeah hopefully our attitudes towards infectious disease are um a little bit more serious hopefully you know the people in charge do not uh spread misinformation and lead the public into a false sense of security around these things you know because that is like just an awful direction to trend between that and the measles thing it's it's um it's it's concerning to say the least you know what i'm saying um agree
00:52:56
Speaker
Speaking of concerning things, I would like to, you know,
World Hepatitis Day Observance
00:52:59
Speaker
highlight this is a health podcast, you know, this month of July. We want to do our health observance for, this is a special one because I feel like in all the years of the pod, we haven't done this one.
00:53:10
Speaker
World Hepatitis Day. So as I'm sure many of you know, hepatitis is an inflammation inflammatory disease of the liver, um most commonly caused by viral infections. There are five main types referred to A, B, C, D, and E. And, um,
00:53:25
Speaker
These five are of the greatest, you know, illness and burden because they it can cause ah severe symptoms and can ultimately lead to death. um So we just want to talk about, like, you know, the prevalence among different people, different groups, you know.
00:53:40
Speaker
ah Hepatitis c has a higher prevalence in black Americans compared to white Americans. um It has an increased mortality rate. among black people, five in every 100,000 compared to 2.98 in every 100,000 white people.
00:53:57
Speaker
And it seems that there were like disparities in treatment, you know, um even though it will appear more often in black individuals, black individuals are less likely to be screened for the disease.
00:54:09
Speaker
Um, who what what the reason is who knows you know is it racial bias within health care is it another reason maybe um people are declining who knows um and uh associated with hcv is also an increased risk of liver cancer so those that live with um hcv tend to have 1.6 times higher chance of developing liver cancer and um with hep C there's hep B. So if you've been pregnant before, that's one of the things that we screened for in the first trimester.
00:54:43
Speaker
Um, the prevalence of chronic hep B infections among non non-Hispanic black individuals is more than six times the prevalence among non-Hispanic white individuals. And in 2022, they were diagnosed with chronic hep B at more than four times the rate of non-Hispanic whites.
00:54:57
Speaker
Um, I will say also there has been some talk on TikTok about people declining the hep B vaccination for their babies. Um, Because, oh, they don't have hep B, so why my baby get hep B?
00:55:09
Speaker
And, you know, if I don't have hep B, how can my baby get hep B? If your baby contracts hep B for whatever reason, um again, they could have you in that window period because we don't always check the anti-hep bc like at B core or whatever. You know what I mean? So if they...
00:55:25
Speaker
If you're negative for hep B, but you're in that weird window period or something like that, and your baby gets hep B, they are 90% likely to get cirrhosis. um So I think a lot of people don't understand prevention um and getting diseases. And you have to understand that one day your baby will grow up.
00:55:43
Speaker
Hep B and hep C are sexually transmitted diseases. um So when you're at your gynecology office or whatever, or you're in the ED being screened for STDs because you're concerned. Yeah, they're going to tack on that HIV and the trepia and the gonorrhea, but make sure they tack on that hep B and C because it's also likely as well. I think um the USPFT people, I think say at one time one-time screening in your lifetime for hep C. But I would say even with pregnancy that we screen for hep B with hep C in like high-risk populations.
00:56:17
Speaker
um So I wouldn't decline getting tested because you never know. It doesn't present as like a weird ulcer or something like that. um It could just be silent and you're in an acute phase or if you're already chronic.
00:56:28
Speaker
um And, you know, if you're in a if you want to prevent you from getting hepatocellular carcinoma and things like that, um it's just one of those things to be screened for. um I can't tell you how often I know in pregnancy, they do it every time you're pregnant.
00:56:41
Speaker
um But if you are in one of like these high risk groups, or if you don't have a stable partner, which is fine, um along with all the other screening, the gunnery of the trick, all those things, I would be checked for hep B as well, just to make sure you're clear. So yeah, 100%. And I think definitely, like you already mentioned, doctor, do maybe vaccination matters, like do not fold on not getting your kid vaccinated if you are pregnant, for sure.
00:57:06
Speaker
um And even just thinking about other things that are factoring into these higher rates of hep B, you know, lower income levels are typically associated with higher infection or higher rates of hep B and hep C infection, which might be linked to unequal access to care or just kind of that prenatal counseling that some patients who are coming from lower says socioeconomic um statuses may face. And then, of course, just different barriers to care, whether it's fear or mistrust of the medical system, um stigma, insufficient education as to why you need to be screened and treated, um language barriers.
00:57:40
Speaker
All of these things can contribute. So ultimately, we do want to shed a light on ah the importance of being effectively vaccinated against um hep B if you're pregnant or just in, you know, in general. And then of course your workers, I think, you know, this is a podcast targeted at medical students, all of us that work in the medical field, you know, um my trainings tell me all the time, I'm a lab tech.
00:58:02
Speaker
My trainings tell me all the time, hepatitis B and C are bloodborne pathogens. If you were to make contact with somebody's blood and they had one of these illnesses, if you're not properly vaccinated, it will transfer over to you, you know? So like one hundred percent just, just in that kind of sense, you know, like they always ask us like, Oh yeah, did you get the vaccine? How are you your titers?
00:58:20
Speaker
um As medical professionals, you know, you kind of want to make sure like, like it's a three, it's a tedious vaccination to get, you know, yeah no one's arguing that, but it is also worth it to, you have that extra layer of protection to have that sureness that if an accident, cause you know, you never know when accidents happen.
00:58:39
Speaker
Um, I actually handle hepatitis and HIV samples every day. Um, face mask, PPE, all that good stuff. I still made sure i got all three rounds of that shot because you just never know, you know?
00:58:53
Speaker
I think it's important that you highlighted the titers thing. Cause there was a time when I wasn't, my titers weren't high enough when I had to, ah get the blood work and I had to then get re I forgot what they had to do like repeat the yeah exactly so and yeah yeah yeah so sometimes you can lose immunity over time too if you're applying to your weight rotations I think V-Slow makes you get all those titers and stuff like that like you're andmm and MMR titers and your Hep B titers. So if you're a senior medical student, you better know if you're non-immune or not.
00:59:25
Speaker
Maricela, Hep B, rubella, and get your shots. and and i think It can just all fall under like you know due diligence as a provider. you know As somebody who you know we're touting this stuff to our patients, we're saying it right now, we should do the due diligence to make sure that were we ourselves are protected the same way.
00:59:46
Speaker
hundred percent 100%. I totally agree.
Podcast Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:59:48
Speaker
I'm glad to we brought this awareness ah during this month of July of World Hepatitis Day. um Yeah, we talked about a lot, but I'm glad we were able to cover everything. ah Thank you to our listeners for once again rocking with us for another episode. But that is our show.
01:00:03
Speaker
Thank you guys so much for joining us for this episode of The Lounge. Let us know your thoughts about the discussion we had today or ask us a question for a chance to be featured on the show by emailing us at podcast at snma.org.
01:00:16
Speaker
And be sure to follow the SMA on all our social media platforms to stay up to date on upcoming events. Bye. Bye, everyone.