Medicine

Person looks out of window with bottle and a glass of wine on a table

When alcohol and a pandemic mix

Edwin Kim, medical director of Penn Medicine’s Charles O’Brien Center for Addiction Treatment, discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected how people use—and misuse—alcohol.

A doctor gives a baby a vaccine while the child’s parent holds them.

Meeting the challenge of vaccination hesitancy

Annenberg School for Communication professor Damon Centola explores root causes of vaccine hesitancy and actionable steps to address it.

Film still of an intubation training video of a medical dummy and medical students in a hospital room

Videos, webinars and lots of feedback: Medical training’s shift amid COVID-19

Because hands-on learning and in-person simulations have been so altered during the coronavirus pandemic, there is now high demand for updated training videos and shifting best practices.

health care worker listens to the heartbeat of a patient with a stethoscope.

After opioid overdose emergency, few patients receive timely follow-up

For people with diagnosed opioid use disorder, timely follow-up care after leaving the hospital can save lives. But a recent national study showed that just 16% of privately insured patients obtain that essential care.

Penn Medicine workers in scrubs and protective face masks kneel on Franklin Field, one holds a sign that reads White Coats for Black Lives

8 minutes, 46 seconds

Hundreds of health care workers remembered George Floyd and other victims of police violence at a White Coats for Black Lives event at Franklin Field.

Closeup view of surgical tools on a tray while surgeons perform surgery in the background

Performing organ transplants safely amid the COVID-19 outbreak

The unique challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with fewer organ donations, led to a tremendous reduction in transplant procedures in the United States. But the Penn Transplant Institute is working through the crisis.

A medical worker in full personal protective gear holds up an x-ray of a chest and lungs

A possible link between certain psoriasis treatments and respiratory-tract infection risk

After examining data from large trials of autoimmune-disease medications called Interleukin-17 inhibitors, researchers found individuals who took these treatments were more likely to develop symptoms associated with respiratory-tract infections.

COVID-19’s assault on Black and Brown communities

Racism, inequality, and the coronavirus have combined to cause an alarming number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among African-American and Latinx populations.

An elderly person’s hands holding a iPad.

Virtual palliative care doctors are a ‘bright spot’ in dark times

An initiative to provide virtual palliative care for nursing home patients, their families, and staff in a group of West Philadelphia nursing homes is providing comfort in the best and safest way possible during the pandemic.

Physician’s hands holding a pen and writing a prescription at a desk

To boost opioid treatment prescriptions, entice physicians

A new study shows that a financial incentive can dramatically increase the number of emergency department physicians trained to prescribe a potentially life-saving medication that prevents patients from fatal opioid overdose.

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