David Velasquez

The Plight of “Dual Noneligible” People in the United States | NEJM Policy solutions are needed to cover adequate health care for the approximately 1.1 million older, low-income adults in the United States who are undocumented immigrants.

In a recent perspective article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Figueroa and his co-author, @davidvelasquez.bsky.social, propose three potential strategies to help deliver health care to older undocumented people.

Learn more at @nejm.org:

In the hospital, we assess patients' mental status with simple questions—one classic: "Who is the President?"

Some recent gems: "I wish it were Obama," "Oh God. Unfortunately, Donald Trump," "The Orange Guy," and "My wife."

Docs/nurses, what's the funniest response you've heard?!

A patient admitted to us was described as altered & underwent a head CT.

Turned out that she wasn’t altered—she just couldn’t speak English well. Her primary language was Spanish 🤦🏽‍♂️

This wasn’t her failure to communicate, it was our failure to understand. We must do better at using interpreters.

Our recs include increasing funding for community health centers, revamping financial assistance policies, and creating Medicaid-like programs.

In a nation built on the labor and contributions of immigrants, every older adult in America deserves the chance to live a dignified and healthy life.

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The Plight of “Dual Noneligible” People in the United States | NEJM Policy solutions are needed to cover adequate health care for the approximately 1.1 million older, low-income adults in the United States who are undocumented immigrants.

Yet, they can’t access most health care services—because they are undocumented.

In @nejm.org, we shed light on the challenges faced by aging undocumented people and propose steps to ensure health care access for all older adults, regardless of their background.

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

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They are your neighbors—your nanny, the worker who harvested the strawberries on your table, the roofer who repaired your home, the cleaner who ensured your streets were clean after the snowstorm.

They’ve paid taxes. They’re over 65. And there will be about 1 million of them by 2030.

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While seeing my patients in the hospital this morning, the nursing secretary called me over.

She had prepared a New Year’s breakfast for the nurses and invited me to join.

Ladies & gentlemen—this feels like I’ve made it 😁

Happy New Year!

Some of the saddest moments in the hospital aren’t from a lack of medical solutions but realizing an older, frail patient has no one to care for them or help with appointments and medications.

Sometimes, loneliness is the diagnosis.

We must do better for our seniors.

Migrants and End of Covid Restrictions Fuel Jump in U.S. Homelessness The number of people experiencing homelessness topped 770,000, an increase of more than 18 percent over last year.

Alarming: Homelessness is up 18% in the past year, hitting children and families the hardest.

As someone who’s experienced homelessness, I know one thing for sure: escaping poverty starts with one essential foundation—a home.

Let's house these folks.

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/27/u...

At 18, I nervously walked into my college’s pre-med office and said I wanted to be a doctor.

They suggested I consider other careers.

I didn’t listen.

Now, for the first time, I’m wearing the long white coat of a doctor—my white coat.

Sometimes, all it takes is believing in yourself.

He can’t do this and it’s clearly unconstitutional. We need to call it out, organize, and support the orgs on the ground who will be on the frontline. We will NOT stand by and allow this to happen.

Efforts in Undergraduate Medical Education to Improve... : Academic Medicine d retention of students from low-SES backgrounds. In this research report, the authors investigate existing efforts in undergraduate medical education to improve SES diversity. Method The authors a...

As a former low-income student, I challenge medical schools to hold themselves accountable and take meaningful action.

This is important not only for students like me, but, more importantly, for the patients we serve.

journals.lww.com/academicmedi...

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In our paper, we propose actionable steps for medical schools across the U.S. to ensure their student bodies better reflect the socioeconomic diversity of the nation.

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Only 16% of schools have mentorship programs for low-income students, and 24% report offering support/affinity groups for them.

While most schools provide some financial assistance, the extent of support & debt burden remain unclear.

Data shows the average medical graduate has $200K in loans.

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Only 8% of med schools report data on the % or # of low-income med students--a critical 1st step for accountability and improving representation.

You cannot improve what you do not measure.

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In our new paper in Academic Medicine, we (three current/former first-gen, low-income med students) ask: what are med schools doing to address this problem?

Unfortunately, the answer is disappointing: very little.

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For far too long, the medical profession has been accessible primarily to the wealthy.

Despite nearly 38 million people in the U.S. living in poverty, only about 5% of doctors come from the lowest income bracket.

This disparity calls for urgent action.

journals.lww.com/academicmedi...

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The patient, a young man who had come off the ventilator the night before, cracked a soft smile.

"He's smiling!" I said with boyish excitement. "He's smiling!"

My patient may never know this, but his smile was exactly what I needed.

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After 3 weeks in the ICU, I experienced many moments filled with sorrow, some with relief, and almost none with joy. But then this happened:

"Tell him the words you know," my patient's brother said.

I smiled and spoke the only Telugu words I knew: "Nuvvu na annabi." ("You are my big brother")

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Meet Kiwi.

She was once a stray on the streets of Philly, but now she’s pampered with love every single day #catdad

I fear for the health of our nation.

First RFK Jr., and now Dr. Oz—who’s next? Dr. Hannibal Lecter?

It’s wild to me that nonprofit hospitals are still charging patients for parking.

How is this OK?!

“There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” - RFK Jr.

The job of doctors who talk to patients about the risks/benefits of vaccines just became 1000x harder.

Not only because of the vaccine hesitancy that will come from this decision, but because patients will suffer the consequences.