06/30/2023

Friends of Franz Podcast S2 E23: Capsules and Capitalism with Dr. Arunima Bera

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 medical providers in itself in given communities across the nation. "Underserved populations" are groups who are disenfranchised due to limited or lack of access to resources, especially within the medical sphere (health insurance, presence of healthcare providers, and treatment modalities). Though often interchangeable, "vulnerable populations" often experience additional barriers to care access (not limited to racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and the socioeconomically disadvantaged). Truly, we see exacerbated health conditions in patients from underserved and vulnerable communities.

We are joined today by Dr. Arunima Bera, a double board-certified pediatric critical care hospitalist physician with a focus on underserved populations in Madera County, California. In 2019, Dr. Bera won the Young Investigator Research Award from the American College of Chest Physicians, focusing on the clinical outcomes of sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome in pediatric patients. She furthers her research on respiratory illnesses in children, such as bronchiolitis and asthma. Beyond medicine, Dr. Bera devotes herself to the arts through dances and vocal performances hosted by the Indian Embassy in Qatar.