Physicians as Agents of Social Change

The September issue explores physicians’ role in addressing the myriad nonmedical factors—such as poverty and economic justice, climate change and environmental stewardship, marriage equality and human rights—that affect human health. There is danger that well-intentioned physicians with little expertise on such “non-bedside” matters may be taken as authorities because of their professional status. On the other hand, these social, economic, and environmental ills threaten the health and welfare of the public. Ignoring them is like treating the symptoms of disease rather than its cause, and that is not the best way to practice medicine.

Volume 16, Number 9: 671-781 Full Issue PDF
  • From the Editor
    Sep 2014

    Treating Presymptomatically

    Audiey C. Kao, MD, PhD
    Like the critics of Dr. King’s anti-Vietnam War fight, some think physicians should stick to medical matters when advocating publically.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):691-693. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.fred1-1409.
  • Case and Commentary
    Sep 2014

    Advocate as a Doctor or Advocate as a Citizen?

    Matthew Wynia, MD, MPH
    Invoking one’s medical training when presenting an opinion on a topic about which one has no expertise is simply cloaking personal one’s views in the mantle of respectability that being a doctor provides.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):694-698. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.ecas1-1409.
  • Case and Commentary
    Sep 2014

    A Call to Service: Social Justice Is a Public Health Issue

    Martin Donohoe, MD and Gordon Schiff, MD
    Unless we build bridges between our clinical work with patients and the public health mission that Virchow prescribed for us, we are doomed to futility in our efforts to help our patients.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):699-707. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.ecas2-1409.
  • Case and Commentary
    Sep 2014

    Medical Students and Rights Campaigns

    Mark Kuczewski, PhD
    Should hospitals allow medical students, physicians, and staff to wear buttons about political issues on their uniforms?
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):708-711. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.ecas3-1409.
  • In the Literature
    Sep 2014

    Advocacy by Physicians for Patients and for Social Change

    Joshua Freeman, MD
    Physicians will have a greater impact on health if they advocate for changes needed to prevent illness and harm than if they simply patch up those who are sick or harmed.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):722-725. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.jdsc1-1409.
  • State of the Art and Science
    Sep 2014

    Greener Clinics, Better Care

    Phil Perry, MSJ
    Energy reduction, water conservation, hazmat reduction, and other initiatives for making health care more environmentally friendly can also contribute positively to the bottom line.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):726-731. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.stas1-1409.
  • Health Law
    Sep 2014

    Physicians, Medical Marijuana, and the Law

    Joseph Gregorio
    Conflicts between federal and state laws governing marijuana, lack of evidence about its efficacy as a treatment, and physicians' inability to predict or control dosage would all be aided by reclassification of the drug that would let clinical research go forward.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):732-738. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.hlaw1-1409.
  • Policy Forum
    Sep 2014

    Preventing Nuclear War: A Professional Responsibility for Physicians

    Ira Helfand, MD, Antti Junkkari, BM, and Ogebe Onazi, MD
    For more than 50 years, medicine has known of its responsibility to educate the public and decision makers about the medical consequences of nuclear war, but the profession has become complacent about the danger.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):739-744. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.pfor1-1409.
  • History of Medicine
    Sep 2014

    The Medical Committee for Human Rights

    John Dittmer, PhD
    The Medical Committee for Human Rights left its mark on American history and provided a model for organizations that succeeded it, like Physicians for Human Rights and Physicians for a National Health Program.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):745-748. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.mhst1-1409.
  • History of Medicine
    Sep 2014

    A Brief History of Environmental Bioethics

    Cristina Richie
    Health care professionals and those who teach them must be prepared to examine the implications of carbon dioxide emissions on human well-being and make decisive steps towards sustainability.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):749-752. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.mhst2-1409.
  • Viewpoint
    Sep 2014

    Physicians’ Social Responsibility

    Catherine Thomasson, MD
    Physicians have a responsibility to identify broad contributors to poor health and advocate for changes that would alleviate them.
    Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):753-757. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.oped1-1409.
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    Podcast
    Sep 2014

    Ethics Talk: Physician Activism in Service to Humanity

    In the September 2014 issue on physicians as agents of social change, Dr. Audiey Kao, editor-in-chief of Virtual Mentor interviewed Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development or USAID.