Vol. 2 No. 1 (2015): Harvard Medical Student Review: Issue 2 – January 2015

Issue 2 of the Harvard Medical Student Review brings together empirical research, clinical scholarship, health policy analysis, and ethical debate with a strong focus on how systems and culture shape care. Original research examines how female medical students at Harvard anticipate handling maiden names after marriage, illuminating identity, professionalism, and gender norms, while a case study–based review dissects an acute respiratory infection outbreak at HMS to explore what is truly known about the common cold and its transmission. A clinical review outlines evidence-based management of stasis dermatitis and chronic venous insufficiency when conservative therapies fail, and another article argues that clinicians must be trained to harness “big data,” highlighting the MIMIC ICU database and critical data marathons as a model. Health policy pieces analyze the ACA’s temporary Medicaid primary care pay boost and CHIP funding “expiration dates,” Vermont’s bid to move beyond the ACA with single-payer financing, and the role of mobile clinics in bridging stark geographic and socioeconomic gaps in access. Opinion essays challenge physician participation in lethal injection on ethical grounds and call for a more critical, evidence-focused approach to complementary and alternative medicine in undergraduate medical education, underscoring the responsibilities of physicians as both caregivers and advocates for rigor in medicine.