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In this time of pandemic, I find myself thinking often about my immigrant parents, the essential work they did, and our urgent need to rethink how society supports the millions of essential workers who keep the country and economy afloat. As an investment advisor to wealthy families, I lead a life that is vastly different from that of my parents. Ted and Josie Lumarda came to the United States from the Philippines, my father in 1929 and my mother in 1955. They spent decades in the service of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, my father as a head gardener, driver and all-around “guy,” and my mother as a housekeeper. (Joe Lumarda, 8/23)

My parents fell in love at a time when their union was illegal in 16 states. My father, who is white and who was a priest at the time, married my mother, who later became one of the first black women college presidents. As a mixed-race kid growing up in Ohio, I often felt like a chameleon who could move in and out of different cultural worlds. (Megan R. Mahoney, 8/19)

It has long been clear that COVID-19 is not the "great equalizer"—a disease that doesn't discriminate—as some initially thought. It is quite the opposite, a magnifying glass that brings to the fore the detrimental, unignorable impact of long-standing, systemic inequities. As the nation cautiously reimagines the new "normal," we need to bring deeper understanding to the systemic issues that predate the pandemic, rather than prioritizing the symptoms. (J. Robin Moon and Shqipe Gjevukaj, 8/21)

As millions have taken to the streets to protest social injustice and racism in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, leaders are taking a long-overdue look at their institutions to identify past failures—and finally make changes. Medical schools must do the same. The students who study in our classrooms and clinics come to us to learn how to heal. But for too long, medical schools—like so much of our society—have not prepared our students to heal everyone. (Mark A. Schuster, 8/22)

The start date has not been confirmed, just as schools don’t have a calendar for the year. I’m dubious that the city has an effective plan to supply personal protective equipment, provide covid-19 tests, conduct contact tracing or undertake the many other measures that would be essential for a safe reopening. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has said that the schools will reopen with a mix of in-class and remote learning only if the city’s infection rate remains below 3 percent. But that is misleading: The overall rate in the city has remained below 1 percent for several recent days, but the rates will vary by borough and by neighborhood, as they have throughout the pandemic. Some areas — such as the Bronx, where my school is located — were hit much harder than others, including much of Manhattan. This disparity isn’t taken into account in the city’s reopening plan. (Amanda Geduld, 8/21)

Shepherd’s Way Farms are located on 44 acres an hour south of the Twin Cities. It’s a small plot in a region where corn and soybean farms can sprawl for thousands of acres. But Shepherd’s Way doesn’t require much space to raise the few dozen sheep that help produce the farm’s award-winning cheeses. What it needs, co-owner Steven Read told me beneath a shade tree recently, are consumers, farmers’ markets and — above all — restaurants that buy locally grown food. (Adam Minter, 8/22)

The experience of losing her oldest child has given her a new purpose — one that goes even beyond raising her grandchildren.“I just want to bring awareness to our community because my daughter struggled so long with this disease,” Davis told me last week. “We need to stop these people that are selling these bad Percocets that’s killing our kids.” (Jenice Armstrong, 8/21)

Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, the president of Brigham and Women’s hospital, broke no hospital rules when she took a seat on the board of Moderna, a Cambridge biotech firm. Still, the fact that she held the position — from which she recently resigned — has bred mistrust and outrage from patients and her own employees. That’s why the rules that allowed it need to be changed. (8/24)

Much like the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on long-time cracks in the
 U.S. healthcare system, it also highlights gaps in medical education. What needs to change for the future of medical education? Enhancing physician training to bolster improvements to Americans’ health first requires an institutional shift in defining 
the physician’s role. Though U.S. healthcare and medical education have advanced in the last century, both still fall short of the goal to protect and promote the health of every American. Even before a global pandemic, Americans have long been plagued by public health crises including socio-economic challenges, structural racism, widespread inequity, and a recent decline in life expectancy. (Ali Bokhari, 8/22)