Thrilled to share that I’ll be pursuing my MBA
@HarvardHBS
alongside my MD
@HarvardMed
!
This year has illuminated the devastating impact of health inequities and along with practicing medicine, I strive to transform the way we deliver healthcare to underserved populations.
I started the
#COVID19
Health Literacy Project to make sure no one is left on the sidelines of this pandemic.
Excited to share the first product of this massive cross-institutional collaboration. These are being translated into 37 languages.
See more:
I finally get to be someone’s primary care doctor! Beyond thrilled to match at
@MGHMedicine
for my internal medicine primary care residency! 🩺
Medicine takes a village, and I owe everything to mine — my incredible parents, mentors, and friends. We did it! ❤️
#Match2024
Honored to be named to this year's Forbes 30 Under 30 list alongside others equally committed to building a better, more equitable healthcare system!
Grateful to mentors like
@sacjai
who've taught me what it means to create real change!
#ForbesUnder30
A very special part of this project was the "
#COVID19
for children" piece.
We created kid-friendly fact sheets for 3-6 year olds, 6-12 year olds, and 13-18 year olds that explain what coronavirus is, how it affects them, and how they can protect themselves and their loved ones.
Honored to receive the
@HarvardMed
Dean's Community Service Award for my work with
@ProjectCSGIRLS
.
Over the past 7 years, founding and building ProjectCSGIRLS sparked my passion for gender equity in STEM and shaped so much of who I am today.
This one's for my students 💫
Many of us are asking how we can meaningfully contribute to
#COVID19
efforts as medical students.
Sharing an initiative I'm leading
@HarvardMed
: the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project.
There has been a real lack of accessible health information available in different languages.
Officially Dr. Pooja Chandrashekar, MD, MBA! 🎓
Thrilled to share that I graduated from
@HarvardMed
and
@HarvardHBS
as a recipient of the Harvard Presidential Scholars Public Service Initiative Award & the HMS Primary Care Award.
To my village — thank you. Now on to
@mghmedres
!
A week ago, I started the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project with a call to action on
#MedTwitter
:
Since then, we:
🔸Built a coalition of 150+ med students translating
#COVID19
info into 34 languages
🔸Created fact sheets vetted by
@HarvardMed
docs
🔸Partnered with
@HarvardHealth
Honored to be selected as a PD Soros Fellow and join this inspiring community of New Americans striving to give back and build a better, more equitable society!
Forever grateful to my parents, who made me who I am, and my mentors, who taught me how to put my values into action.
25% of physicians didn’t vote in all of the last three presidential elections, yet healthcare reform continues to dominate the political climate.
In an effort to increase civic engagement among future physicians and dentists, we hosted a voter registration drive at
@harvardmed
.
New in
@JournalGIM
w/
@sacjai
: we find that for non-English speaking pts, having a PCP who speaks their language is associated with ⬆️ primary care and ⬇️ acute utilization.
Facilitating language concordance may lead to lower cost, more appropriate use of healthcare resources.
Yesterday was a day I’ll remember forever. I am so humbled to join the
@HarvardMed
community. This white coat is my commitment to work towards a future with greater hope and less suffering.
Thank you to my incredible family, friends, and mentors for making this dream possible.
In
@JAMA_current
,
@AmolNavathe
, Chris Chen, & I argue that shifting FQHCs to value-based payment is a major opportunity to advance equity in the safety net.
How can we get there? Develop FQHC-specific payment models that explicitly incentivize equity 👇🏾
Today, I learned of the heartbreaking news of India Abroad ceasing publication.
Growing up, the IA was a fixture in my house. Reading about the stellar accomplishments of the South Asian diaspora inspired me beyond words.
I opened their last-ever print edition to find this. 😭
This year, I started medical school excited about the future, but also worried about whether I'd find a supportive loving community.
This
#Thanksgiving
, because of the classmates that became family, I'm the most happy and fulfilled I've ever been. Thank you
@HarvardMed
c/o 2023.
Thrilled to speak with
@NPR
about the impetus to start
@covid19literacy
, the importance of accessible and culturally sensitive health information for vulnerable populations, and where we’re going next (big announcement coming soon!).
Nonprofit hospitals spend >$100B on community benefits, but only a small % actually goes towards community health 🤔
In
@JournalGIM
, we show how we can leverage community benefit programs as a powerful tool to make true community-directed investments. 👇🏾
Honored to be featured in
@BostonGlobe
for my work starting the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project (
@covid19literacy
) with my amazing team.
Access to multilingual
#COVID19
info is critical to ensuring non-English speakers aren't left on the sidelines.
In our latest in
@AcadMedJournal
,
@sacjai
and I tackle the elephant in the room.
We are taught to always put patients first, but how should clinicians and institutions respond when patients exhibit biased, discriminatory, or racist behavior?
Today, my last clinic patient was an elderly Iranian gentleman. He told me about the Parsi community and we discussed his chest pain and difficulty paying for BP meds.
As he was leaving, he stopped. “I hope I live long enough to be your patient.”
Nothing beats primary care. ❤️
Honored to be selected as a 2021 L’Oreal Paris Woman of Worth for my work with
@ProjectCSGIRLS
!
The award honors 10 women making an extraordinary difference with funding and a primetime NBC special.
Vote for ProjectCSGIRLS to receive an additional $25K: !
1/4 Excited to share my latest in
@sciam
!
Recently, several programs have emerged to provide language-appropriate materials and care. But, these (including
@covid19literacy
) are stopgap solutions. We need more comprehensive reform. A short 🧵...
And preclinical year is a wrap! ✅
280 char isn’t nearly enough to capture all the memories and reflections. But one thing’s for sure - I picked the right career.
Thank you to the classmates, faculty, and patients who made this year so much fun. Off to the wards
@BIDMChealth
!
It is critical for professors and administrators to acknowledge the horrifying events of the past week.
If you care about your students' mental health and well-being, please give them space to process the pain and suffering that communities of color are experiencing.
Beautiful words of wisdom from a patient: "Always remember to smile. You are family to the person you're caring for."
Feeling extra grateful today. What a privilege to be allowed into someone's life and to become part of their story.
Just checked Google Analytics for the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project (
@covid19literacy
) and was blown away.
Since launching in April, our website has received 253,000+ pageviews and downloads.
A testament to student-driven public health advocacy. 👊🏾
It’s an honor to advocate for immigrants and non-English speaking communities to ensure no one is left on the sidelines of this global pandemic.
Thank you
@SheRocksWorld
and see for more info about the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project.
#TogetherWomenRise
Breonna Taylor would have been 27 today. An EMT and aspiring nurse, she dedicated her life to serving others. It's on us to demand justice.
May her death propel us to do more, educate ourselves, and act against anti-Black racism and police brutality.
#SayHerName
#BreonnaTaylor
Faculty members, don't underestimate your power.
@DavidJinMD
started class by calling out systemic racism, explaining how he's learning, and how
@BrighamWomens
is improving minority recruitment and anti-racism training.
Texts from classmates:
"I can learn today"
"I needed this"
It is critical that South Asians work to acknowledge and undo anti-Blackness within our own community.
It starts with awareness, but it must culminate in education and action.
See full statement from the
@HarvardMed
South Asian Medical and Dental Association.
#BlackLivesMatter
In our latest,
@sacjai
and I rethink the one-size-fits-all approach to SDOH interventions.
The inequities exposed by COVID-19 should motivate us to shore up SDOH investments, but we must target patients who truly need and benefit from interventions.
I had the privilege of leading a group of my incredible
@HarvardMed
and HSDM classmates in the writing of our class oath - an articulation of our collective values, goals, and hopes for our training and practice as future physicians and dentists.
#MedTwitter
#MedStudentTwitter
Had the opportunity to speak to 300+ high school students from around the world about
@covid19literacy
and language barriers during
#COVID19
at
@harvardghlc
.
I led them through a design-thinking exercise on meeting the needs of non-English speakers. So impressed by their ideas!
As a city, we must make sure no one is left on the sidelines of
#COVID19
.
I testified to the Boston City Council on the language barriers non-English speakers are facing and our work
@covid19literacy
. Thank you to
@juliaforboston
@EdforBoston
.
So much fun to bring together my passions for health equity and technology in today's
@ProjectCSGIRLS
workshop!
Loved teaching 35+ middle school girls about mobile app solutions for health literacy and introducing them to prototyping with
@MITAppInventor
.
#AWSInCommunities
Clinicians have likened the current PPE shortage to a “war zone.”
Brilliant solutions like this one from
@BostonChildrens
can help address the supply shortage.
An easy, cheap alternative to N95 masks that can be made using existing hospital supplies 👇🏽
#GetMePPE
#COVID19
In our latest in
@JournalGIM
, we explore whether MA is a promising approach to finance care for patients experiencing homelessness.
We find enrollment in MA vs. FFS is a/w ⬇️ acute care and ⬆️ primary care utilization in this population that suffers from highly fragmented care.
So special to see my longtime mentor
@sacjai
keynote the
@HarvardHBS
Healthcare Conference!
What an incredible conversation with
@robert_huckman
on authentic leadership, the dangers of incrementalism, and the importance of radical common sense.
For public health programs to benefit populations that have historically been denied access to care, accessibility is key.
To reach populations with limited or no literacy, the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project (
@covid19literacy
) created a set of no-text
#COVID19
infographics.
I learned Hindi by watching "Pavitra Rishta" and seeing Sushant's beautiful, iconic portrayal of Manav. He delivered, over and over again, and this news is heartbreaking.
We need to destigmatize mental health in the South Asian community - now.
As medical students, we understand medical information and can relay this information to the general public.
So we're translating
#COVID19
fact sheets into different languages that we then provide to community-based organizations and clinics like
@TheFamilyVan
.
Today,
@HarvardMed
welcomes the Class of 2024. It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since embarking on this beautiful journey.
For the new students:
🔸 Learn with and from your classmates
🔸 Remember the community you came from and the one you hope to serve
I see this as a tangible way to (remotely) contribute to
#COVID19
efforts and help patients from vulnerable communities know when and how to seek care.
If you're interested in collaborating, please reach out! This would be a great cross-institutional project.
The duty to care for all is central to the medical profession, but how should clinicians and institutions respond when the patient is biased?
Thrilled to present our work on addressing patient bias and discrimination with
@sacjai
at the annual meeting of the
@macyfoundation
.
Never thought I’d see a Black, Indian-American woman as the VP nominee. Think about what this representation means for little girls growing up in Black, South Asian, and mixed race families in this country - to see themselves in the Vice President of the USA. Wow.
It's official: Sen. Kamala Harris is Joe Biden's vice presidential pick.
It's a historic first. Harris is the only Black woman and the only South Asian American woman to be named the vice presidential nominee of a major political party.
1/ In our latest,
@sacjai
and I discuss sources of tension between physicians and administrators, and outline actionable strategies to mend the fractured physician-administrator relationship.
The key? Teach physicians and administrators to walk in each other’s shoes.
#MyNameIs
Pooja, which means "prayer." I am the product of my parents' prayers and drive to build a better live for themselves and our family in this country.
#IWillVote
because every other daughter of immigrants should see themselves and her values in our nation's leaders.
I attended a Narcotics Anonymous mtg as part of our clinical medicine course.
My biggest takeaway? As we address the opioid crisis, and healthcare in general, we fixate on "fancy" solutions (new payment models, tech).
We underestimate the power of community, fellowship, & love.
The impact you leave on others is the greatest measure of your success.
I learned that one of my
@ProjectCSGIRLS
finalists from 2016, then an eighth grader, just committed to
@Stanford
to pursue CS.
When I congratulated her, she told me "it all started with ProjectCSGIRLS."
The lack of multilingual
#COVID19
info can place non-English speakers at a higher risk of infection.
I spoke with
@schamisso
from
@Newsy
about our work
@covid19literacy
to translate COVID-19 info into 37+ languages.
See more:
Hard to believe one semester at
@HarvardHBS
is already over! ✅
What an amazing four months of learning from and with my section (f)amily, broadening our perspectives, challenging our assumptions, and sharpening our visions for purposeful, mission-driven leadership.
I was in awe of the
@PDSoros
community this weekend - the raw vulnerability, the poignant reflections on our New American stories, and the shared commitment to doing good and uplifting others. What a privilege to be part of this family. Congrats to all who applied this year! ❤️
Secretly hoping that
@poojac99
and her fantastic
@covid19literacy
team start building information regarding the covid vaccine, targeted at immigrant, underserved and refugee populations
Excited to share the
#Hindi
fact sheets produced by the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project (
@covid19literacy
) in collaboration with Harvard Health Publishing.
Accessible, evidence-based, and expert-reviewed
#COVID19
information ⬇️
Download all at:
One of our most important responsibilities is to bridge the gap between medical institutions and the communities we serve.
Towards this goal, we brought Mission Grammar students to HMS to learn about MD/DMD careers and establish relationships with first-year students.
*Translated fact sheets for the following languages are posted*
See and reload your page (Ctrl+Shift+R, Ctrl+F5) to see updates!
🔸Mandarin (Simplified)
🔸Mandarin (Traditional)
🔸Russian
🔸Greek
🔸French
🔸Vietnamese
🔸Arabic
🔸Hindi
🔸Korean
🔸Spanish
In my latest in
@AcadMedJournal
, I explain the powerful role of trainees in enabling equitable access to health information for non-English speaking patients.
I also share the founding story of
@covid19literacy
- stay tuned for more updates coming soon!
My latest in
@AcadMedJournal
: the case for a digital health preclinical requirement for med students.
For digital tools to enhance medicine, med schools must prepare future docs to navigate the digital health landscape and engage with technical experts.
Proud to be classmates with this incredible human. I’m excited to see you architect a better, more equitable future for our patients and healthcare system. Keep inspiring us all,
@LashNolen
!
Happy Mother’s Day to my biggest inspiration.
My mom is the first woman in my family to pursue a career and has juggled seemingly insurmountable responsibilities and setbacks. She is the definition of strength, resilience, and love.
Everything I am is because of her. ❤️
In
@AJMC_Journal
,
@sacjai
and I argue that our antiquated system of state-based medical licensure limits the promise of telemedicine to remedy the physician shortage & increase access to care.
We propose an alternate vision of portable medical licensure.
Telemedicine is here to stay, but
#COVID19
has shown us that virtual communication is hard - and has significant impacts on mental health and social connection.
As we invest in telemedicine, we must be mindful of its impact on physicians and potential to accelerate burnout.
Grateful to graduate from the institution that has shaped, inspired, and challenged me every day. Thank you
@Harvard
. And, most importantly, thank you to the mentors, professors, friends, and family who made this amazing journey possible. I can't wait for what's next.
#Harvard18
Medical schools must carefully consider their response to
#COVID19
. Allowing students to provide non-essential care to elderly and immunocompromised patients is dangerous, and far outweighs any educational benefit.
Let’s not stress a system that’s already working past capacity.
THIS is what a leadership team looks like.
If more leadership teams looked like this, our healthcare system would be a very different place - for patients & health professionals.
Healthcare leadership must reflect the diversity of backgrounds & experiences our patients deserve.
My parents immigrated to the US from India in pursuit of higher education.
I grew up in Northern Virginia, where the economy has been fueled by immigrants who came to this country as international students.
The
#StudentBan
is cruel & devastating.
Sign:
The new Vice President of the U.S. is a Black-Indian woman and that is everything every little girl needed at this historic, unprecedented time in our nation's history.
JOE BIDEN DEFEATS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
The Associated Press declares Joe Biden the winner of a grueling campaign for the American presidency. He will lead a polarized nation through a historic collision of health, economic and social crises.
#APracecall
The
@PDSoros
family is one of the most special communities I’ve had the privilege of being part of. Great to welcome the new fellows into the fold last weekend!
Apps are now open - apply if you’re eligible, you won’t regret it!
All
@HarvardMed
alums, faculty, and students - please sign and share this petition to rename Holmes Society! We must ensure our spaces are consistent with our values.
My classmates and I at
@harvardmed
are petitioning to rename one of our academic societies currently named, “Holmes” because this individual was a eugenist, racist, and actively expelled the first 3 Black students to attend HMS.
Please sign and share!
Sending so much love and solidarity to my Black friends, classmates, and colleagues this week. ♥️
I can't imagine the pain and exhaustion that you are grappling with, the conversations that parents are forced to have with their children, the looming fear. It must stop.
Excited to share our
@nejmcatalyst
piece on how integrating product management education into clinical training may help bridge the clinician-engineer communication gap, leading to technologies that better meet clinical needs
Thank you
@statnews
for featuring the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project (
@covid19literacy
)
"We need to make sure we’re not forgetting about the minority communities who will be disproportionately harmed by
#COVID19
"
See more:
Excited to speak at the Yale Women's Empowerment Leadership Conference later this month alongside some of my own role models like
@PatriceHarrisMD
and others.
Looking forward to sharing my passion for medicine and improving healthcare delivery for our most vulnerable patients!
As we build anti-racist medical institutions, let's not forget about the impact of patient bias and discrimination on clinicians.
Important
@sacjai
column on building a workplace free of racism (ft. our work presented at the
@MacyFoundation
conference).
#LastNormalPhoto
My best friend and I buying a mirror and carrying it back home while laughing and almost dropping it multiple times, serendipitously running into friends (
@simishah_
) in Fenway, and getting coffee at Tatte and dinner at Rod Dee. How I miss all of these things ❤️
Recently, I've been thinking about how to integrate advocacy/activism into
#MedEd
& build a community of like-minded peers.
RT and tag others interested in social justice & health equity with
#MedStudentsForAction
and let's follow each other!
#MedTwitter
#MedStudentTwitter
#FF
Thank you to the
@Celtics
for recognizing my work with
@covid19literacy
and highlighting the importance of language accessibility during
#COVID19
.
More about why I started the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project and why addressing this issue requires a multifaceted approach 👇🏾
And that’s a wrap on clinical year! 🎉
Wow — what a year and what a privilege to be part of our patients’ journeys. Here’s to unimaginable growth - both personal and professional - and a lifetime of learning and service.
📸: Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
State-based medical licensing poses significant hurdles to the expansion of telemedicine, quickly becoming a powerful tool to combat
#COVID19
.
@sacjai
and I wrote about this
@AJMC_Journal
and proposed moving to portable medical licensure.
Policy q: any clear reason why we can’t just make it so that doctors can practice across state lines? Outside of $$ interests, unclear to me why a doctor licensed in CA shouldn’t treat someone in rural Texas? Are diseases different state by state?
Best end to a week: running into a
@ProjectCSGIRLS
alumna and hearing about how she’s thriving and excelling as a
@Harvard
freshman, a clear future leader in computational biology.
Nothing beats the joy of seeing these young women go forth and blaze their paths in STEM.
Our English fact sheets will be posted TONIGHT. Translations will be posted on our website over the weekend and early next week.
All fact sheets will also be posted on the Harvard Health website.
Interested in receiving them? Sign up here ⬇️
Honored to be named a 2023 40 under 40 Leader in Minority Health by
@NMQF
!
As I pursue my mission of improving healthcare delivery for underserved populations, it's a privilege to join this community of leaders dedicated to advancing health equity.
A much-needed diastole in beautiful Puerto Rico 🌴
Nothing feeds my soul like travel and good books (
@sanjenasathian
’s “Gold Diggers” and
@DxRxEdu
’s “Finding Joy in Medicine” - both amazing, the first is a must-read for all of us who grew up as children of Indian immigrants).
Grateful to
@thecrimson
for writing about the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project.
It's been thrilling to see a global community come together around our mission to make
#COVID19
info accessible to everyone.
Share our website:
Lash Nolen (
@LashNolen
) - Lash is a first-year medical student and
@HarvardMed
's first Black woman class president. She is a force of nature with her unwavering commitment to health equity and social justice.
Lucky to call her a dear friend, classmate, and partner in crime ❤️
@dereckwpaul
@DxRxEdu
Dereck, I've been using Glass Health exclusively for the last few weeks and I *love* it. I've never found a notetaking platform that fits the way I learn till now. Something about it makes me more motivated to learn & strive to improve my clinical reasoning skills - thank you!
Thank you
@PDSoros
for giving me a space to reflect on my New American story.
To recognize the privilege of having the right to dream when women before me did not, to carry on my great-grandfather’s legacy of public service, to honor my parents’ sacrifices and migration stories.