JAMA network open
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Accurate racial/ethnic identity measurement is needed to understand the effectiveness of outreach, recruitment, and programs to support American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people becoming physicians. ⋯ Changing the method of race/ethnicity data collection captured more AIAN applicants, matriculants, and graduates. Yearly trends indicate concerning although nonsignificant differences after the change for AIAN graduates. These findings should inform diversity efforts.
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Estimates of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease burden are needed to help guide interventions. ⋯ The SARS-CoV-2 disease burden may be much larger than reported COVID-19 cases owing to underreporting. Even after adjusting for underreporting, a substantial gap remains between the estimated proportion of the population infected and the proportion infected required to reach herd immunity. Additional seroprevalence surveys are needed to monitor the pandemic, including after the introduction of safe and efficacious vaccines.
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Descriptive data have revealed significant racial/ethnic disparities in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the US, but underlying mechanisms of disparities remain unknown. ⋯ In this cross-sectional study, a wide range of sociodemographic risk factors, including socioeconomic status, racial/ethnic minority status, household composition, and environmental factors, were significantly associated with COVID-19 incidence and mortality. To address inequities in the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic, these social vulnerabilities and their root causes must be addressed.
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It is now established that across the United States, minoritized populations have borne a disproportionate burden from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, little is known about the interaction among a county's racial/ethnic composition, its level of income inequality, political factors, and COVID-19 outcomes in the population. ⋯ This county-level ecological analysis suggests that COVID-19 surveillance systems should account for county-level income inequality to better understand the social patterning of COVID-19 incidence and mortality. High levels of income inequality may harm population health irrespective of racial/ethnic composition.
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Police in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, routinely transport patients with penetrating trauma to nearby trauma centers. During the past decade, this practice has gained increased acceptance, but outcomes resulting from police transport of these patients have not been recently evaluated. ⋯ For patients with penetrating trauma in an urban setting, 24-hour mortality was not different for those transported by police vs EMS to a trauma center. Timely transport to definitive trauma care should be emphasized over medical capability in the prehospital management of patients with penetrating trauma.