Friends of Franz

July 1st is known across the United States as the day when medical school graduates start their first day as resident physicians in hospitals nationwide. As with all new beginnings, anxiety and fear are common and expected emotions in assuming these new roles and responsibilities. However, this trepidation does not end after one’s first day of work. “Pre-shift anxiety” is a phenomenon seen in many...

According to Insider Intelligence , 1 in 5 adult Americans cannot afford the lifesaving prescription drugs they need. And according to the American Hospital Association , approximately 3.5 million patients in the U.S. cannot receive the medical care that they need due to the absence of transportation access to their providers. This statistic does not take into account the reality of the lack of me...

According to a 2022 Gallup World Poll , 60% of employees reported being emotionally detached from work, with 19% stating that they were miserable. Job dissatisfaction and unhappiness are truly multifactorial states brought about by several facets ranging from systemic-wide issues to extraneous phenomena that could occur in an employee's personal life. With the commencement of the pandemic, burnout...

According to Debt.org , the American household debt was calculated to be almost $17 trillion in 2022. Almost $2 trillion of this value is designated to be student loans, while approximately $1 trillion is due to credit card debt. Definitely, the accumulation of this debt, both on household and individual levels, can place such an emotional and psychological toll. It seems as if you are sinking in...

The fingers on my hands are not enough to enumerate the number of television shows and films I have watched since childhood where cancer is made to be the death sentence and the divider of the families of either the main or supporting character. The protagonist feels a certain pain, is shown inside the doctor's office, and the physician somberly states, "You have cancer" or "You have six months to...

According to National Geographic , about ten nonillion (10 to the 31st power) individual viruses are said to exist on our planet Earth. Of these, biologists estimate that 380 trillion live on and in our bodies at a given moment. The common thought when it comes to viruses is disease and sickness. In fact, a recent pandemic owes its ravaging existence and plague to a virus. What exactly are viruses...

In 1973, through the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, women were given the right of access and privacy to abortion without federal or state-wide regulation. However, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned this landmark ruling with the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. Now, the right to abortion care and reproductive autonomy can be regulated at a state level. H...

According to a report by Yale University , a person's hair and hairstyle impact not only our self-image but also the impression of others about us. Throughout the decades, society and media have inculcated the image of "perfect hair" as free-flowing, shiny, and tangle-free. However, this is definitely a false presentation of the realities of hair. The American Hair Research Society explains that a...

Skin cancer has been named the most common cancer in the United States. According to the American Academy of Dermatology , one in five American people is estimated to develop skin cancer in their lifetime, with almost 10,000 diagnoses every day. Of the three major types of skin cancer being basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma, the highest rates of death are attr...

The beauty of the world can be appreciated with our eyes, but problems with our sense of vision can reduce the clarity and quality of this wonder, such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism, dry eye, cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and complete blindness. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology , over 150 million Americans...

According to the American Academy of Dermatology , up to 50 million Americans are affected by acne annually, making it the most common skin condition. Defined as the clogging of hair follicles with oil and dead skin cells, acne usually begins in adolescence though it can extend up to adulthood. Beyond the overt physical pain and struggle of breakouts and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, acne -...

According to the CDC , around 17% of American adults aged 20 and over were involved in a special diet on any given day between 2015-2018. Whether to lose weight, achieve a certain physical aesthetic, optimize health, or prevent chronic disease, the tricky world of food consumption (or the avoidance of it) plagues almost every community. From this arises an array of eating patterns and ideals that...

According to a 2015 national data qualitative study , a group of sourced reasons why people avoid medical care were interpersonal causes: communication issues, lack of trust, perception of discrimination, and the belief that healthcare professionals do not actually care about them. These are concrete concerns as we often hear of patients' experiences of dismissal and invalidation of their question...

The ability to communicate with others, in whatever mode or form, is truly such a gift. Whether it's through spoken words, written language, signs made by the hands, or through the use of devices, our thoughts, feelings, needs, and wants can be expressed to others. Unfortunately, this is not the truth for everybody. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association , 5-10% of Americans...

According to a 2021 systematic review by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , members of the LGBTQ+ community have higher rates of mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, substance abuse, and suicide, compared to the cis-heterosexual population. Beyond mental health, physical health was also seen to be compromised through a higher prevalence of ca...

According to the American Psychological Association , smiling - even if forced - can help boost one's mood. But what if you cannot seem to smile in public? The CDC states one-quarter of adults over 65 have severe tooth loss. Missing, misaligned, and discolored teeth can truly impact one's ability to freely smile and have self-confidence. We see the public's endeavor to combat these through the ris...

According to the American Library Association, around 22,000 children's books were published in 2009 alone. A myriad of papers and storylines arrive in people's homes every day, ranging from magical worlds to scientific pamphlets. However, only a small fraction of these books are targeted at kids who have developed an interest in the sciences of the human body. Due to an extensive list of medical...

According to Mayo Clinic , about 50% of women suffer from urinary incontinence, the inability to control urination voluntarily. However, only 25-61% of affected women discuss this problem with their healthcare providers. The resistance to sharing these urologic issues, both men and women, stem from shame and fear of judgment. This also stands true for other medical issues confined within the intim...

According to a 2015 cross-sectional research study , psychological burden was seen in many patients suffering from skin diseases. As someone who suffered from severe acne, I truly understand the anxiety of having to face the world. This is where skincare saved my and others' lives: ensuring skin health alongside mere peace as a ritual. But the skincare world is so complex and can be overwhelming,...

Pet animals and their human owners (or, as our expert guest likes to call them, "pet parents") truly share a special connection that transcends species and biology. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, over 80 households in the United States owned dogs, cats, birds, and horses back in 2017-2018. Why are we so inclined to consider animals as part of the family, so much so that...

The American Heart Association relayed that the 1960s saw the first rise of coronary care units (CCU) in response to heart attacks. Today, cardiac ICUs, both medical and surgical, provide intensive care to a breadth of fatalities, ranging from arrest to post-open heart surgeries. The CVICU is seen to be a home for a "special breed" of nurses with its required list of complex skillsets, such as the...

According to the CDC , cardiovascular disease remains to be the leading cause of death worldwide across all gender, race, and ethnic groups. In fact, one person in the United States dies from it every 34 seconds. Cardiac pathologies are sometimes seen to be “silent killers,” only recognized during the actual critical moment. Are there recommended diet and exercise levels to avoid a heart attack? H...

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is the hospital ward where no new parents ever hope to be. Though a safe haven for babies, the NICU becomes a temporary home to those who require immediate medical care, such as preterm or premature babies (born before 37 weeks of pregnancy), congenital anomalies (i.e., birth defects), and infections. According to the March of Dimes , a non-profit organizati...

According to the American Cancer Society, about 14,000 cases of invasive cervical cancer in the United States are said to be diagnosed. This statistic can bring so much fear, which warrants education on screening and preventative modalities. Within the gynecologic realm, another root of wary comes from the terms sexually transmitted disease, STD, or STI. When uttered, the room usually goes quite s...

Hi friends! I am back for more, and I am thankful that you're back for me too! I began the podcast series as an Instagram live-stream video series entitled Friends of Franz back in February 2021 in response to the many myths, misinformation, and disinformation disseminated during the commencement of the 2019 pandemic. I realized that most of the erroneous information spread online stemmed from tho...