Best of the MCN Blog: Most Important Stories of 2019

Happy New Year! In 2019, Migrant Clinicians Network published 167 blog posts. Whew! With so many posts, it can be difficult to keep up! As we start a new year, many articles rise to the top, asking for another read. Here, we take a look at the top ten posts that stand out as beacons on our road to 2020.

1. New England Journal of Medicine Publishes Health Network Case Study Highlighting Social Distance: The New England Journal of Medicine, the most prestigious medical journal in the world, shared with readers around the globe how geographically stagnant health systems affect patients like migrants and how Health Network helps patients achieve health and well-being despite mobility.

2. From the Border: Refugees and Their Health Needs, with Dr. Marsha Griffin: The US-Mexico border, and the thousands of people attempting to cross, were above-the-fold news for much of the year, and yet, in our modern era, we were plagued with so many news stories and so many different perspectives that many of us were left without a clear picture of refugee health challenges that on-the-ground clinicians were witnessing. This is one of many posts in 2019 aiming to help clinicians and migrant allies ascertain what is really happening on the border and the ways that MCN is working to address the health needs of migrants and refugees as they cross the border. Our border coverage also included historical reflections, position statements on new policy, and (of course) Health Network’s efforts to help those with urgent health needs who recently crossed the border.

3. Taking a Pulse: Migrant Clinicians Network’s 2019 Poll Reveals Continued Fear Among Migrant and Immigrant Patients: This blog post, detailing the results from the third year of our clinician poll, was the most-viewed blog post of the year. As in previous years, the post spawned inquiries from journalists and researchers eager to understand what migrant clinicians are seeing around the country, demonstrating the importance of the views of our network of clinicians. MCN will continue with the fourth year of the poll in the coming weeks.

4. A Child’s Ear Surgery, A Family’s Migration is one of several Health Network case studies that we published. This one chronicled the journey of a seven-year-old daughter of migrant farmworkers who needed surgery on her ear and follow-up care.

5. How Three Communities in Puerto Rico Mobilized to Prepare for the Next Big Disaster: Puerto Rico’s recent devastating earthquakes remind us that disasters can strike at any time. MCN continues to work with Puerto Rico communities to assist them in community mobilization, networking, and preparation. Read this blog to learn how health centers can team up with their communities to prepare, and stay tuned to MCN’s blog to read more in 2020 about how health centers activated their community mobilization plans in the wake of the earthquakes.

6. Diabetes, Disasters, Late Night Outreach follows a typical week of one very busy migrant health nurse during the growing season. From Montana to borderland Texas, migrant clinicians shared the struggles they face and the programs and projects that they are launching to better the lives of their patients, through profiles on the blog. 

7. Mother of a Transgender Boy: “Am I Doing the Right Thing?”: This was another post that garnered lots of feedback and requests for further technical assistance and resources. The mother in the article said it best: “Unconditional love will prevail over the negativism of our society.”

8. MCN Statement: Detention Facilities are Inappropriate for Children: Last year’s position statements, published in English and Spanish, were often calls for basic human rights, common sense, and humanity. You can access other statements on our Position Statements page.

9. Occupational Health in Calexico with Ventanilla de Salud of the Mexican Consulate: Another of our many “in the field” blogs highlighting MCN’s programs, MCN’s Alma Galván reported from the field during her inspiring worker safety and health trainings. She is continuing her work in 2020 with Ventanillas de Salud partnerships in California, Texas, and Arizona, assuring hundreds of more Latinx workers can stay safe on the job.

10. In the Field: Training CHW Parents to Protect Kids from Environmental Exposures: We talked a lot about the health of farmworkers on the blog last year, everything from antibiotics on citrus to heat stress and climate change. Here, MCN’s environmental and occupational health team offered up a train-the-trainer program to help parents recognize health hazards. MCN will continue and expand this work in 2020.

This year, we’ll continue to amplify the voices of clinicians around the country and offer up resources and connections to help expand the incredible work that many of you are doing to improve the health and well-being of tens of thousands of underserved patients. Here’s to a healthy and safe 2020!

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