Dr. Ashandra Batiste, a pioneer in a tech-forward dental practice, discovered her passion for dentistry at the young age of 11. This aspiration was ignited by a childhood accident where she damaged her two front permanent teeth while exiting a pool. The work
Kyla Marks’s grandmother grew up in a small rural town in Mississippi where access to dental care was scarce—a gap that left her without most of her teeth by the time she was in her mid-30s. “When I came into this world and met her, I never really saw her smile,” said Marks, a fourth-year
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By Tiara Moultrie Historically Black college and university (HBCUs) medical schools provide a crucial pathway to medical careers for Black students, first-generation students, and low-income students. HBCU medical schools are also distinguished by their commitment to reducing racial and socioeconomic health disparities and to providing services in low-income communities. Yet, recent changes in federal policy
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By Selena Simmons-Duffin A group of 128 Democratic members of Congress are calling on the federal government to prevent a funding shortfall for reproductive health clinics in two weeks. The letter, first shared with NPR, was drafted by the House Democratic Women’s Caucus and Reproductive Freedom Caucus and sent to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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As rural hospitals face declining reimbursement rates and worsening workforce shortages, Tennessee is among the states being hit the hardest. A recent report from the Physicians Advocacy Institute found that from 2019 to 2024, rural Tennessee lost 42% of its independent physicians and 44% of its independent medical practices. Meharry Medical College, a private, historically Black medical
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By Joe Walsh, Laura Doan The Trump administration launched its new TrumpRx prescription drug listing site late Thursday, part of a push by President Trump to offer lower direct-to-consumer drug prices. The president struck deals last year with more than a dozen drugmakers to list some of their medication on TrumpRx at steep discounts from list prices, with megacompanies
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By Erika Edwards and Jennifer Jett The United States has terminated its partnership with the World Health Organization, the Trump administration said Thursday, raising concerns about how it will combat flu and other diseases. The move follows an executive order Trump issued on the first day of his second term last January saying the U.S. would withdraw from the WHO
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By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. As open enrollment for Affordable Care Act insurance comes to an end, people are moving to cheaper plans or dropping their coverage entirely, according to state and federal data. Last year, Congress failed to extend enhanced tax credits for Obamacare customers. The result was soaring monthly premiums across the U.S. “People are saying: ‘I just can’t make the math
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By Aria Bendix For parents of young children, visits to the pediatrician could involve new challenges and confusion now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has drastically overhauled its recommended childhood immunizations. The agency on Monday shortened the list of vaccines recommended for all children, dropping the number of diseases targeted from 18 to 11
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The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) has released a new report regarding the status of different specialties within the physician assistant (PA) field, including the racial representation among PAs in each specialty. As of 2024, Black PAs represent just 3.9 percent of all PAs working in primary care settings in the United States, only
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Hopelab has announced the selection of its second cohort of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Translational Science Fellows. The fellowship program focuses on advancing research aimed at improving the mental health and well-being of Black adolescents. This initiative seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and practical applications, with an emphasis on addressing
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