Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: We Must Act Now To Boost Physician Workforce; US Should Use Tools It Has To Fight Tooth Decay
The United States is currently in the grips of a massive physician shortage estimated to be over 60,000. As the workforce ages, the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates the physician shortage will increase to over聽86,000 physicians by 2036. Connecticut is not immune with聽almost 20% of residents already living in designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs)聽with fewer than one primary care physician per 3,500 residents. (Dr. Anthony Yoder and Ryan Englander, 5/27)
As a dentist trained in India and a global health researcher based in the United States, I have observed the fluoride debate from a broader, global lens. In many parts of the world, fluoride is not controversial 鈥 it is simply unavailable. Millions suffer from preventable tooth decay because they lack access to fluoride, and therefore the protection it provides against oral disease. (Mannat Tiwana, 5/24)
In an era when speed, efficiency and turnover have come to dominate the hospital psyche 鈥 just watch an episode of 鈥淭he Pitt鈥 鈥 what role is left for human connection in our clinical toolbox? More than you might imagine. (Panagis Galiatsatos, 5/26)
On the long list of ways that leading thinkers warn AI could end humanity is one that feels very comic-book villain: helping a rogue actor use modern biology tools to synthesize a lethal pathogen that would 鈥渃ause more than a billion deaths in a matter of months.鈥 While I am deeply concerned about the long-term existential threat of AI and synthetic biology to create new or modified pathogens, my extensive experience detecting and controlling outbreaks around the world makes me fear a more immediate threat: a rogue actor using existing AI tools to simulate a bioterrorism attack that would destabilize a region or the world. (Jay K. Varma, 5/27)