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Timor-Leste Defense Force and US Navy Begin Bilateral Exercise CARAT Timor-Leste
December 12, 2021 January 26, 2023 by admin
Timor-Leste Defense Force (F-FDTL) and U.S. military are partnering in the 27th annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) maritime exercise, virtually, on land, and in the territorial waters surrounding Port Hera, December 6. The nine-day engagement focuses on naval and land force capabilities and features cooperative evolutions that highlight the ability of the U.S. and Timor-Leste to work together toward the common goal of ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. The at-sea phase will take place near Port Hera, where F-FDTL members will embark on a U.S. Navy ship for partnered training focused on building interoperability and strengthening relationships. U.S. Navy ship and aircraft include Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18) and embarked MH-60S Seahawk helicopter of Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) Squadron 21.
The at-sea training will serve to enhance F-FDTL sovereign ability to monitor and enforce maritime zones and develop personal and professional skills to support operations. The exercise will feature onboard subject matter expert exchanges on navigation, engineering and damage control, and visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS). F-FDTL and U.S. Marines from I Marine Expeditionary Force will work together in a variety of combined trainings during the harbor phase. The harbor phase will include in-person instruction and practical application on Marine small arms, martial arts and urban combat as well as small boat maintenance and maritime security. U.S. personnel include staff from CTF 76, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7, U.S. 7th Fleet, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Embassy Dili. Virtual subject matter expert exchange events will feature joint training opportunities on maritime law and enforcement and medical topics for seagoing personnel.
“A common theme across the CARAT exercise series is the shared development of maritime capabilities in support of security, stability and prosperity throughout South and Southeast Asia. The United States and our CARAT partners depend on and provide security for the free flow of commerce that enables the global economy. CARAT is a demonstration of the consistent effort to build and maintain maritime capability. The Timor-Leste Defense Force has been part of CARAT since 2012, and we remain committed to strengthening this partnership through more frequent and sophisticated engagements,” said Capt. Tom Ogden, commodore, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 7.
Chief Gunner’s Mate Ronald Clark, from Temecula, California, conducts .50 caliber machine gun training with members of the Timor-Leste Defense Force during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) from the hangar bay aboard Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18).
The CARAT exercise series, celebrating its 27th anniversary, is designed to address shared maritime security concerns and strengthens partnerships between regional navies. With nearly a two decades of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Timor-Leste, the two countries continue to work closely together to advance a shared vision of a free, open, inclusive, peaceful, and secure Indo-Pacific region. CARAT Timor-Leste 2021 underscores this shared commitment. As the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed destroyer squadron in Southeast Asia, DESRON 7 serves as the primary tactical and operational commander of littoral combat ships rotationally deployed to Singapore, functions as ESG 7’s Sea Combat Commander, and builds partnerships through training exercises and military-to-military engagements. Under Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with 35 maritime nations in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Sailors give a tour of an MH-60S Sea Hawk, attached to the “Blackjacks” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21, to members of the Timor-Leste Defense Force from the flight deck aboard Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18), during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan M. Breeden)
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Review Thu Feb 19 2015
Sleater-Kinney Reminds Chicago They're the Queens of Rock & Roll
By Julian Ramirez
Back in 2006, Sleater-Kinney announced an unelaborated and indefinite hiatus, leaving their fans with little to no hope of seeing the band together again. It may seem like an overreaction but that is at the very least how I felt as a burgeoning adult losing one of his favorite bands. Granted in the following years all the members continued making amazing music. Corin Tucker released a couple of albums that I gravitated to immediately. Drummer extraordinaire Janet Weiss played with nearly every other band I like including the Jicks, Quasi, and the Shins. Carrie Brownstein added writing and acting to her repertoire, all the while making more and more music. When Weiss joined Carrie Brownstein on Wild Flag, it was the closest thing to a Sleater-Kinney reunion most fans could clear see at the time.
Thankfully, with the release of their box set Start Together last year, new music emerged and a fully formed concept of the band returned. No Cities to Love, their first album in a decade, doesn't feel like a simple reunion album. I don't think Sleater-Kinney is capable of that. Every song on the album is a new classic that makes it seem like they never actually left. That was definitely the feeling at the Riviera, where the crowd jumped and sang along with Sleater-Kinney in an amazing show.
Lizzo and her crew opened the night with a riot grrl refresher lead by her DJ and fellow MC Sophia Eris. Segments of "Cherry Bomb," "Rebel Girl" and a couple others set the stage for the night of women taking control of the crowd at Riviera. Lizzo, who came out to the Star Wars "Imperial March," had the crowd bouncing to her alternative hip hop bangers in no time. Her drummer Ryan McMahon shredded through songs almost as quickly as Lizzo furiously dashed across the stage to the tremendous beats. The only breaks she took were to acknowledge the crowd and only to dance/twerk/jump in place. At one point her photographer Asha Efia joined the fray, dancing along and cueing the instrumentals for a song.
Lizzo's songs didn't all stick to the raucous mentally of their musical compositions. While those moments of throwing cookies to the crowd during "Batches and Cookies" or the amazing "Werk" were fun, it was the more serious twists that made Lizzo shine. Lizzo takes pride in every aspect of her identity, whether it's being a feminist, humanist, or her brown skin. A lot of her songs place a strong emphasis on cultural commentary, something she made a point of especially in her final song that reached near spiritual affirmation of her being. There is no backing down when it comes to Lizzo as she finds an understanding and balance through her songs.
There wasn't a moment wasted with the women of Sleater-Kinney. As soon as they stepped out from backstage they darted to their respective instruments and ripped into two songs off their latest album. "Price Tag" started it off with its cool opening riff before shifting to "Fangless," capturing the audience at the Riviera with an immense urgency. This may have been the best takeaway from the show, seeing the crowd at an undeniable fever pitch with every song. It's a testament not only to the band's staying power, but their unbelievable talent and chemistry to create songs that sound as good and memorable as their past hits.
Even so, the resulting setlist stayed true to Sleater-Kinney's massive and relentless catalog, mining the majority of their albums. Corin Tucker successfully burst through each of the songs with her magnificent voice. Her vocal cords stretched effortlessly to quivering notes that held together songs. It was absolutely riveting hearing her voice reach the astounding highs that she has always been capable of achieving. "Surface Envy," one of my favorites off the new album, was one of those tremendous peaks of Tuckers voice. She pushed those lyrics "We win/ We lose/ Only together do we break the rules" with such force, letting them rise far past any sensible point of reason into a stratosphere reserved for rock stars like Sleater-Kinney.
The crowd reaction to the show was best reflected in Janet Weiss' drumming. She has been one of my favorite drummers and her manic drumming was at full tilt during the night. Seated at the center of the stage, Weiss looked like an explosion threatening to spill out of its confinements. There was never a moment where she didn't exude a massive amount of energy. Weiss hit hardest during "Jumpers," shifting between the softer verses before slamming into the rollicking chorus, beating her drums to the edge of their capacity.
Brownstein carried the verses of "Oh!" with a rapid fire precision as she strutted and shuffled all over the stage in her white jumpsuit. She looked like a giant above the crowd who were completely in her control. Brownstein really was the most commanding visage onstage, especially when she treated her guitar like an obvious extension of her body. During "Entertain," her guitar became a tumultuous dance partner, jutting to and fro before finally having the tip of its head placed on the floor of the stage, practically propping Brownstein up. It's a move that only she could pull off with such poise.
As Sleater-Kinney returned to the stage for the encore, one audience member threw their bra on stage. Tucker picked it up and knew it was a sign. "Tour has begun," she said before lauding touring partner Planned Parenthood and their support of reproductive health care. Other than a few thank yous and acknowledging the subzero temperatures, this was the longest moment of conversation between the band and the crowd. Sleater-Kinney's show was all about the music. No superfluous frills or unneeded banter, just enough to get you going headlong into their unabashed rock.
Their final songs encompassed the band perfectly, touching on the unsurprising range Sleater-Kinney has displayed over the years. Tucker focused entirely on her singing for "Gimme Love," giving her guitar duties to tour member Katie Harkin. "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone" was dedicated to Kim Gordon, reworking the lyrics to reference Gordon's greatness instead of Thurston Moore. The band took a lovely step down with subversive "Modern Girl" before ending it all with the raucous "Dig Me Out." These songs may not all immediately look or sound indicative of Sleater-Kinney's work, but I can assure you they are. The lighter and heavier notes spun together in a whirlwind of those final glorious songs, serving as a reminder that Sleater-Kinney is still more than what they seem after all these years.


Davis Sr.
LB - Free Agent
Exp 17th Season
Keeper/Dynasty Rankings
1 PHI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 @ARI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 @CLE 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 BAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 LAR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
6 @NYG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 DAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 NYG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 @DET 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 CIN 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 @DAL 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 @PIT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 @SF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 SEA 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 CAR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 @PHI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2006 14 90 67 18 1.5 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 0
2007 16 87 70 16 3 0 0 2 1 0 1 5 0
2008 16 114 93 21 3.5 12 0 2 1 0 0 6 0
2009 7 61 48 12 1.5 5 1 0 0 0 2 6 0
2011 2 12 6 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2012 15 105 68 35 0 9 0 2 1 0 1 3 0
2013 16 123 85 38 4 13 0 1 0 0 2 8 0
2014 15 100 66 34 2.5 8 0 1 1 0 0 3 0
2017 15 76 52 24 2.5 5.5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Thomas Davis Sr. does not have a full player profile. Our staff releases 300+ preseason player profiles each year, though even that does not include all players, especially free agents. You can still consult our season projections to see if this player has an individual projection and/or comment.
No recent news for Thomas Davis Sr.
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Back toMcCarthy Tétrault Employer Advisor
Ben Ratelband
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Directors and Officers in the Hot Seat: Maximum Fines Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act Now $1.5-million
On April 11, 2022, Bill 88, Ontario’s Working for Workers Act, 2022 (“Bill 88”) received Royal Assent. Bill 88 made significant amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”), including substantially increasing the maximum penalties for corporate directors and officers for convictions under OHSA. The amendments came into force on July 1, 2022.
While Bill 88 made a number of changes to OHSA – including increasing the maximum fine amount for individuals from $100,000 to $500,000, extending the prosecutorial limitation period to two years, legislating aggravating factors to be considered on sentencing, and laying the groundwork for the use of “prescribed orders” on sentencing – one of the most noteworthy changes is the fifteen-fold increase in the maximum fine available for sentencing directors and officers of corporations for OHSA violations. Previously, directors and officers were subject to the maximum fine applicable to all individuals, including workers or supervisors ($100,000). The amendment adds a specific penalty provision for directors and officers, with a maximum fine of $1.5-million, which matches the maximum fine applicable to corporations themselves:
“A director or officer of a corporation who contravenes or fails to comply with section 32 is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $1,500,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than twelve months, or to both.[1]
Section 32 of OHSA is the general provision establishing the duties of directors and officers of a corporation:
“Every director and every officer of a corporation shall take all reasonable care to ensure that the corporation complies with,
(a) this Act and the regulations;
(b) orders and requirements of inspectors and Directors; and
(c) orders of the Minister.[2]
Where there are multiple offences, the total fine could be multiples of the maximum. As noted above, the maximum fine is in addition to a possible 12 month jail term (which was unchanged by the amendments).
Directors and officers convicted of offences under OHSA now face significantly greater potential liability on sentencing. This change, which is part of Bill 88’s apparent broader message that violations of OHSA are to be taken more seriously, seeks to distinguish directors and officers from other workplace parties by recognizing their leadership and decision-making role in workplace health and safety matters.[3] Increased scrutiny of director and officer conduct should be expected going-forward.
Managing Liability: Due Diligence
Convictions under OHSA are regulatory offences, which are typically strict liability offences that penalize the absence of due diligence.[4] Demonstrating “due diligence” – showing that a person took all reasonable care and executed the judgment, care, and prudence that a person would reasonably take under the circumstances is a complete defence to strict liability offences. This standard is already built into the primary OHSA provisions addressing workplace parties’ duties, including the director and officer provision in section 32 (“…shall take all reasonable care to ensure…”).[5]
This amendment reinforces the importance of ensuring that corporations and their directors and officers have developed and implemented appropriate systems to ensure that directors and officers are duly diligent in discharging their duties. What constitutes “due diligence”, or “taking all reasonable care” depends on the circumstances and the workplace party’s role. A duly diligent director or officer will not be expected to take the same steps as supervisors (i.e. directly overseeing and training workers) but must still take some role in ensuring workplace health and safety.
Each workplace is different, but generally, some markers of a strong system for ensuring director and officer due diligence include:
Directors and officers are familiar with OHSA, its regulations, and the corporation’s obligations thereunder. While directors and officers may be familiar with the Act and its requirements generally (perhaps from prior industry experience or roles within the company), corporations might consider ensuring these leaders are also aware of how those requirements apply to the corporation’s operations specifically. A basic orientation to the regulatory regime and the company’s compliance procedures could be completed at on-boarding, and reviewed periodically or following significant regulatory or operational changes.
Directors and officers are regularly updated on significant health and safety issues or initiatives occurring at the company’s operational level. A company might consider establishing a corporate reporting system through which significant incidents, regulator interactions (such as inspections revealing significant issues or refusals), new standard operating procedures, or health and safety committee recommendations are reported to directors and officers.
Significant issues are followed-up on by directors and officers. It is important that critical injuries, near-misses, health and safety-related discipline, regulatory orders or investigations, or other major health and safety issues are properly managed. Depending on the circumstances, intervention or oversight by a director or officer could be required.
The corporation’s health and safety policies are reviewed periodically – either internally or with the assistance of an outside consultant. As regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and a company’s operations change, the corporation’s policies and practices may need to change as well.
Periodic internal compliance audits to ensure proper health and safety policy implementation. Regular, targeted compliance reviews may demonstrate that company leadership is proactively looking to identify and remedy any defects in health and safety compliance or identify opportunities to improve.
Good documentation practices. Proving that directors and officers took an appropriately active role in ensuring worker safety can be difficult without proper documentation. Companies might consider ensuring that minutes and agendas, training sessions, correspondence, audit results, consultant opinions, and any other records that demonstrate proactive steps by directors and officers to ensure worker safety are gathered, organized, and stored – to build a defence to any charges or to assist with a fulsome response to any regulatory investigations.
These are only some of the many steps that corporations and directors and officers might consider implementing to ensure they are taking all reasonable precautions to safeguard worker safety – which not only improves health and safety outcomes, but also establishes a defence in the event of any charges.
For any questions regarding Bill 88, the amendments to OHSA, or their impacts on your business, please contact a member of our Labour & Employment Group.
[1]Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, s. 66(2.1) [“OHSA”].
[2]OHSA, s. 32.
[3] Will Bouma, MPP, Third Reading of Bill 88: Working for Workers Act, Hansard Transcript, April 6, 2022.
[4]Ontario (Labour) v. New Mex Canada Inc., 2019 ONCA 30 at para 71.
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California’s imperiled turtles require complex protections
VIVIAN DU | STAFF
Max Lambert
If you wander around California’s streams or ponds, you’re likely to spot a turtle trundling along the water’s surface. If you’re lucky, this animal is a western pond turtle, because not only are western pond turtles an exquisitely marbled reptile, but they are also one of California’s most imperiled species. Pond turtles have a relatively large natural range, extending throughout Western North America from British Columbia down to Baja California. But everything from climate change to a dramatic loss of habitat has dealt pond turtles a serious blow. During the California Gold Rush, people even used to eat pond turtles in large numbers and less than a century ago, you could buy a dozen wild pond turtles in San Francisco markets.
Western pond turtles are in such rough shape that they are under review for listing as “endangered” under the United States Endangered Species Act. Chances are, however, if you’re in a city or suburb, the animal you will see is a red eared slider turtle. Distinguished by a red stripe next to their eyes, sliders are very distinctive. Red-eared sliders are also common across California, but they are native to the central and Eastern United States. Additionally, because they are so common in the pet trade, sliders have been distributed in abundance throughout the rest of the United States and across the world. The problem is that red-eared sliders get big and mean in a short amount of time, which causes people to release their red-eared pets into the wild rather than finding them another home.
Pet sliders have been released in mass droves not only throughout California, but on every continent except Antarctica. Conservation biologists have been concerned for several decades as to whether or not feral slider turtles compete with native turtles for food and space in their habitats. Until recently, we had no evidence from wild populations that invasive sliders might impact native turtles anywhere. My colleagues and I recently published a study where we removed the majority of a red-eared slider population from a shared habitat — an incredible 177 sliders totaling over 200 pounds of turtle mass. Removing this slider population allowed native pond turtles to access more food and habitat space. Interestingly, we also found that so many pet sliders had been released into this habitat that the sliders were also impacting each other. This result showed that not only do released sliders pose a threat to native turtle conservation, but they also pose a threat to themselves.
Cities and suburbs can be rough places for California’s western pond turtles. Urban areas are feral slider hot spots. Because most invasive red-eared slider turtles are released pets, the slider invasion is concentrated in lakes, ponds and streams where people live. Red-eared sliders are not, however, the only problem facing urban pond turtles. Roads fracture the landscape and make it harder for pond turtles to move between habitats, and plenty of turtles get smashed by vehicles. This issue is often worse for females, which have to travel farther on land to find places to nest. Urban areas are also home to fierce predators, such as coyotes and raccoons, which dig up turtle nests and eat adult turtles. Beyond invasive competitors and lethal encounters, western pond turtles are timid animals and get stressed out when they see walkers, joggers or bikers. This causes them to abandon their habitat unlike sliders. Nevertheless, urban areas don’t have to be lost causes for imperiled pond turtles. In fact, cities and suburbs can be home to strong western pond turtle populations and may be exciting places to focus on pond turtle conservation.
Our study provides pretty clear evidence that removing red-eared sliders can be an important part of pond turtle conservation, particularly in sensitive urban habitats. Removing sliders from habitats is, however, only a temporary solution. We must ban the sale of pet sliders to prevent them from being released into the wild. As our study shows, releasing sliders into the wild hurts both native turtles and pet sliders. Therefore, banning the sale of red-eared sliders will benefit pond turtles and sliders. Urban bodies of water can offer some relief from hot weather and droughts that will only get worse with climate change. We can also tweak urban habitats to favor pond turtles by adding more floating spaces, providing cover from people and minimizing the distance turtles must travel to nest. Urban habitats will always pose challenges for pond turtles, but they can also be part of a holistic effort to protect this Californian species. Conserving western pond turtles is going to take some serious work, but it’s worth it. Unlike the rest of the country, California doesn’t have an abundance of native freshwater turtle species. Therefore, protecting the western pond turtle means protecting an iconic piece of California’s natural history.
Max Lambert is a postdoctoral research scientist in the department of environmental science, policy and management at UC Berkeley.
Environmental Science Policy and Management
Waitlisted students offer to pay classmates to drop courses
Recently, multiple students on campus have offered to pay their classmates to drop out of classes they are waitlisted for, raising concerns about over-enrollment and advising.
Volunteers build 12 tiny homes for homeless youth from Berkeley, Oakland
YSA, a Berkeley art and job-training organization, has been planning its Tiny House Village since 2016. The village, which is projected to open July 1, 2020, will have 26 tiny houses in total — 22 for homeless youth and four for resident assistants.
Caltrans clears Berkeley encampments
A Berkeley homeless encampment by University Avenue and Interstate 80 was cleared on Wednesday by the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans.


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Episode 41: Dr. Dinesh Palipana
In this episode, Dr. Meeks and Poullos are joined by Dr. Dinesh Palipana. Dr. Palipana is a lawyer, doctor, researcher, disability advocate, and recipient of the 2021 Queensland Australia of the year award for his work advocating for doctors with disabilities. Dr. Palipana shares his personal experiences as a physician with a disability and how he works to create more inclusive medical spaces and attitudes, in Australia and the United States.
Lisa Meeks:
Doctors with disabilities exist in small but measurable numbers. How did they navigate their journey? What were the challenges? What are the benefits to patients and to their peers? What can we learn from their experiences? My name is Lisa Meeks, and I am thrilled to bring you the DocsWithDisabilities podcast.
Join me as I interview Docs, Nurses, Psychologists, OT’s, PT’s, Pharmacists, Dentists, and the list goes on. I’ll also be interviewing the researchers and policymakers that ensure medicine remains an equal opportunity profession.
Sofia Schlozman:
Hello and welcome back to the Docs with Disabilities podcast. This episode is the fifth installment in our ongoing series on BIPOC voices. If you have not yet listened to the other episodes in this series, we highly recommend that you check them out as well.
In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Dinesh Palipana. Dr. Palipana is a lawyer, doctor, researcher, disability advocate, and recipient of the 2021 Queensland Australia of the year award for his work advocating for doctors with disabilities. We are so honored to have him on the show today to talk about his own experiences as a physician with a disability and to share his insight on how to create more inclusive medical spaces and attitudes in Australia and the United States. We begin with an introduction from Dr. Palipana.
Dinesh Palipana:
My name is Dinesh. I am a doctor working in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital in Australia. I am a lawyer and a researcher in spinal cord injury. I am a disability advocate and I work as a lecturer at the medical school at Griffith University.
Peter Poullos:
So, knowing what you do about the landscape for disability in Australia and in the United States and in other countries, what would you say the differences are and similarities between disability inclusion in those countries?
I was born in Sri Lanka, actually, and I lived there till I was 10 years old, and I spent a little bit of time thereafter I had the spinal cord injury as well. So, I did a little bit of work in Sri Lanka around people with spinal cord injuries and a few other things. So, I had those two countries to directly make comparisons to, and I feel extremely lucky. Australia has a lot of support systems in place, like a national insurance scheme, to provide care, and equipment, and support to people with disabilities. Whereas, when I was in Sri Lanka, even the hospital environment for people with spinal cord injuries were very, very difficult, because even things like air conditioning to thermoregulate, having access to physiotherapy space, and simple equipment like catheters were all lacking and all these patients with spinal cord injuries were put in one room, which wasn't very big. A lot of them went home and passed away because, particularly in rural Sri Lanka, there just isn't the medical and social care to help them stay alive.
So, having seen all that, I count my blessings every day to be living in a country where there's a necessary support to live, and to work, and to get around the community. Even to be having a conversation with you today is not an opportunity that most people will have. So, I feel very lucky to have done that and to have had this opportunity. And I think there are probably some strengths and challenges in comparing countries like Australia and the United States as well. From my brief time that I spent there, what I came to understand is that things, like the Americans with Disabilities Act, seem to have provided a really strong foundation to build on with protections. And again, that's with my very limited understanding of how the system works, in detail, in the United States, But in Australia, we've had some challenges in the past because until very recently there wasn't human rights registration and the constitutional rights were limited and the Anti-Discrimination Legislation, while it was there, I think the legal frameworks to protect the rights of people with disability weren't as strong and people struggled when they tried to fight for their rights.
That's something that's developing over a period of time, to become stronger. So now there is human rights legislation. Now, the body of law is being developed in disability, but when I was struggling to find employment as an intern, when I graduated, there was really no legal protection, even though I earned my degree and spent time at the hospital. I think the strengths are the social structures built for people with disabilities. So, a couple of years ago, we had the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the National Injury Insurance Scheme that was rolled out across Australia. And these schemes, again, while they're developing and are still being shaped, they provide everything from funding for care, equipment, and access in the community that everyone needs to live and to, hopefully, live according to what their goals are. So, I think those kinds of schemes have been a great strength. And if anyone sustains a spinal cord injury or disability, they are generally eligible for cover under one of these schemes.
I think different countries have different challenges and different strengths. But I think developing nations, I feel for the people that live there, because while we're talking about challenges in education and employment and other things, I mean, these people were struggling to survive.
Wow, it's interesting when you reframe it. Earlier today I was thinking we had not pushed the needle enough. I was actually doing another interview where we were talking about how we have to continue to persist and continue to try to hold people accountable to, not only the laws, but best practice here, and then to come on and talk to you and think, "Wow, how lucky are we that we even have these laws," is a totally different mind frame. I never lead with the law. To me, the law is kind of an ancillary device. I always lead with the human rights, social justice perspective. But it's nice to have the law there in the U.S. to bring in when it's necessary. But I'm, I'm wondering from your perspective, because you are a lawyer and were a lawyer prior to going into medical school, how you see that, almost like a dance or the balance of the legal protections and the legal stance, versus, the social justice kind of approach to inclusion. And because you've obviously probably utilized both and what is and is not effective in your work?
I think the law should be a last resort because it's expensive, it's time-consuming, and it's complicated, and we shouldn't have to resort to that. And I think the more important thing that has really benefited me, is just having good people with a good culture that believe in the right thing that believe in the value of inclusion. I had this injury, spinal cord injury, halfway through medical school. And it was just about when I was starting my clinical rotations. So, I got to experience a wide range of different specialties. And I got to experience a wide range of different attitudes as well. And both as a student and as a resident, I can give you two different experiences. One was in the emergency department where I work in the busiest emergency department in Australia. It's a really dynamic environment, it’s full of people, it's full of different situations. And everything's completely unexpected.
The people in the department… when I first met my clinical supervisor there as a medical student, she took me out for coffee and she had a chat with me about what my life was like, what the injury was. She met my mom and talked to my mom because my mom was a big part of my life. And she's always going to be part of my life.
So, we had a coffee and I still remember it. And at the end of that chat, she just said, "Okay, great, we'll make it work." And " We can't wait to have you." And ever since that point, I've really felt at home and valued and respected and like a part of the team. And any day that I'm at work, the doctors and nurses, the radiographers, the physiotherapists, everyone, the environmental service people. Everyone just treats me like a normal person and a part of the team. I say hi to everyone. And it's just so nice wandering into work. So, I feel the culture is so inclusive. And I was talking to my girlfriend who also works in the same department, and we were just reflecting on the diversity of people, whether it be LGBTQ+ or, people with disabilities or whatever else, it's just not a thing. It never comes up. And everyone's a part of the family and we care about each other, we check in on each other. So that culture is so important. Whereas I worked, or I tried to get a spot in the radiology department and the attitude was completely different.
And I was told that even though the emergency department has accepted me that they don't want someone with a spinal cord injury in that department. And so I wouldn't be able to work there. So, I think the reason I told that story is I think culture and attitude is way more important for inclusion than law, because even if you fight legally for inclusion, and even if you manage to get a court order to say that "Yes, you can work in this place." And then, "Yes, they have to take you." I think it still makes for a pretty tough environment to be in.
So, I think, while legal protection is very important, I think they just need to serve as a reminder and a message that this is our social structure. This is the framework that we need to exist in. But I think changing minds and attitudes to that which value inclusion is really important.
[music transition]
When you were talking earlier about how you were the last incoming intern to be offered a job. I think you were offered your job two days before the start date, right? And, reading that made me really angry (laughs) for you, the fact that they separated your application out from everybody else's and then just kept on dragging it along and delaying. But the thing that was even more disturbing was that after you were allowed to enter into your job after graduation, that they went, and then they tried to make it harder for medical students with your type of disability to enroll and complete medical school. Is that right? And if so, how did they attempt to do that? And did they succeed?
Yeah, well, Lisa would be very familiar with that piece of work that came out, around 2015 or 2016, and those medical deans of Australia and New Zealand, which released a set of inherited requirements that was designed to basically exclude people with disabilities from studying medicine. And it had a range of things like, your motor function should be this, and your sensory functions should be this. It had a really strict set of criteria. But I guess the most difficult part when that came out, is someone forwarded me an email from one of the committee members that helped draft that document. And I still have that email, but the email said something along the lines of, "This policy should allow us the legal protection, if we want to exclude someone with a disability from studying medicine, or if we need to exclude someone who's acquired a disability, who's already studying medicine."
And that just felt like, (laughs) when I just read the words, it feels like it's very directed at you, right? But it wasn't really legally challenged. And then this document filtered out through to the organization that administers the entrance exam for medical schools and some medical schools put it up on their websites. So, this was filtered through to a lot of places and it wasn't really challenged legally, but there was a lot of advocacy, which Lisa also supported. And this year I've been peripherally involved in the work that, with the community, has changed the documents, so there's a new one that's being developed, which is a really nice thing. And it's a lot closer to a more inclusive approach. So that's been really nice to see that transformation.
Yeah, well, we still have a ton of work to do in the US on that front, but it sounds like you're describing technical standards, right? And they vary considerably from one place to the next.
Yeah, but luckily we have some good people leading the way. And I have a set of technical standards that I can pull out at all these different events. “Look at this, this is how it should be."
You know, we're trying, and the AAMC is doing great education and outreach on this. And we have exemplar examples of technical standards. We have, certainly have, we have people like Pete Poullos, actively working in medicine, hundreds and thousands of physicians with disabilities actively and uneventfully practicing medicine. And so, it's just, it still surprises me when we happen upon the ignorance that is embedded in some of these standards and the writing and the kind of historical language that's used and it's disappointing.
In the next section, Dr. Meeks, Dr. Poullos, and Dr. Palipana discuss the value of welcoming people with disabilities into medical professions. Listen or read along as they discuss how improving inclusivity can promote innovation and improve efficiency.
One of the things that we share is this idea of innovation and how it very organically emerges as part of living with a disability and working with a disability. And I know just in, you know, my interactions, I actually could pose this to both of you. I'd love to get both of your perspectives on it. This idea that, you know, necessity is the mother of invention and how innovation has, has been a part of your life since the accident. And in what ways have you innovated in medicine in your daily routine, I guess both personally and professionally to the advantage or increased efficiency, or some sort of work around that you've come up with that has been helpful.
Yeah. You know, we were talking about the law and the social justice angle, if that's the right thing to do before. So, I think law, the law is probably the bottom of the rung, and you've got social justice and everything next up. But I think the highest level of what we're aiming for is that this is a really beneficial thing for us to do, because it will increase efficiency and innovation, and profits and whatever. And so, innovation has definitely been a part of practice for me because I had to figure out how to do things. And I wanted to figure out how to do things more efficiently than my counterparts. So, in my first year when I was an intern, I kept really detailed records of how many patients I was seeing and what was happening.
And I wanted to demonstrate efficiency, and I've found ways of examining the patients, typing up my notes and having a workflow using things like iPads and voice recognition and whatever else that would allow me to be more efficient, while delivering high quality care. So, in the emergency department where we are often seeing so many patients, one of the things that I kept track of is how many patients I would see. So, in my first year I was seeing 24% more patients than the average intern using whatever tools and workflows that I had.
So, I was able to demonstrate that not only was inclusion a good thing, but it could be more efficient as well for me at the time. But since then, we have adopted so many different things, and I've been able to contribute to the rollout of technology now at other hospitals, including new electronic medical records and more voice-read voice recognition. I even fiddled around recently with one of the emergency physicians who helped me figure out how I might be able to intubate on a dummy using video assisted intubation. So, there's so much technology out there that can enable a person to practice and that can bridge physical gaps. We need that in medicine anyway. And I read this book by Dr. Eric Topol, which is a Creative Destruction of Medicine, and he talks about how medicine is so slow to adopt technology that would actually make it better. And we have so much, we have so much. And I think inclusion is one of the ways where we can improve and increase the uptake of technologies that will actually make us a better profession.
Yeah. I mean, thinking smarter, there are so many workarounds that we've created over the years for physicians and learners with disabilities that are then adopted as part of the protocol for the department, or if it's a procedural work around, that get adopted because it is more efficient with greater outcomes. So, I love that.
In the next section, the conversation transitions to a discussion of diversity and allyship. Listen or read along as our hosts and our guests explore how community involvement and allyship can help shift attitudes and force change in medical settings.
What barriers of inclusion for doctors with disabilities who also identify as doctors of color do you still hope to dismantle through your advocacy?
That's such an interesting question because I was at an event earlier this year and one of my friends, they were saying, "Man, do you realize that you not only have a disability, but you're a migrant, you tick all the boxes." I was like, "Oh, well, I never actually thought about that." But yeah, the thing is I think the challenges for culturally and linguistically diverse people are widespread and real. But for me personally, I've never really been, I haven't been affected by it. And maybe it's because we moved to Australia when I was 10 years old and I grew up in a little seaside town.
It was just a, really, it was a tiny little town and you just feel, oh, I just always felt like part of it. So, my, I guess my identity as a person of color, I never really felt apart, if that makes any sense. So, I think that you can be two challenges stacked on top of each other. But the thing is there are so few doctors with disabilities in this country and there are even fewer doctors with disabilities that have visible disabilities. So I don't know if that challenge has really come to the forefront just yet. We have both of these issues going on, but in medicine broadly, I think there are challenges for doctors of different cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
There are also challenges for my female colleagues. The really interesting thing is again, when I was an intern, I did a term in internal medicine which had two interns, and my colleague was a female. And there were periods when other healthcare professionals would prefer to talk to me and they've said it to her on the phone by virtue of being a male doctor. And there were patients that preferred a male doctor, and they would be patients that would mistake her for not being a doctor. So, there were, there were challenges like that for my female colleagues. And what I realized was that they had sometimes, and I've observed this in a variety of different specialties, that they had more challenge getting tasks done because they were female, than me who was unable to use my hands, which was a pretty grieving realization sometimes to come to.
The other important question on the point of this topic is that recently I was talking to a group of medical students and we were having a conversation. And one of them asked, actually asked, a really interesting question, "Do you ever feel tired being an advocate for a minority group?" And my answer was "No," but I think the more interesting thing that comes out of that is that I think it's important to be an ally for people who are going through things or who are a minority group. I think allies are more important. And the reason I say that is because in my journey, with the spinal cord injury, when I was struggling to get a job and when I was faced with other challenges along the way, my allies, my mom obviously to be one, but a lot of the female, senior doctors were my allies. A group of them actually offered to give up their salaries to fund my internship. They said, "Let's take money off the table. So, why don't you, why don't you let this guy become an intern." So I had allies like that along the way and they didn't have the spinal cord injury. But they stood with me. And I think that's the more important part, it's important to have allies, and it's important to have people that just support you and support the cause. So, when we were talking about being a person of color or culturally and linguistically diverse, I think it's important to have allies.
Is disability consistently included in diversity initiatives in Australia or at your institution? Because here, we are sometimes an afterthought or left out altogether, not necessarily even on purpose, but just because people forget that we're here.
Yeah. Yes. I think the challenge is, again, touching on the internship issue, the broad organization or the state body that was employing interns had these, "We are an inclusive employer, and we welcome people with disability and diversity," and whatever else. All the hospitals have, “Yes, we value diversity, and we have a disability inclusion plan and action plan”. So, all these institutions have had it, but when it comes to the crunch, when it comes to employing someone with a disability, when it comes to supporting someone who's acquired a disability, this becomes a different thing. And I think while there are action plans and while there are messaging and policy, I think the challenge lies on the ground and in middle management, where it becomes a very difficult thing. And while the leadership are behind the broad message, I think there are opportunities for them to be allies more, and there are opportunities for them to fight more and give people more, which doesn't really happen.
I think that the whole idea of allyship being critical to raising awareness and pushing equity forward is absolute. I also, I think when you're trying to think about injustice, it is very hard to tease apart some of these things, right? The constructs that keep those injustices or discrimination active and weaved through all of these different marginalized populations. And sometimes too, it's the shifting of the power, who has the power in the situation, to fight. And so, in this, I love your story about the senior doctors that collectively were willing to give up part of their income to fund you because it forced a situation, right? It was all of a sudden if money is not the issue, it forces people to either say they're being discriminatory and they don't want someone who has a disability, or to come up with another reason.
I just, I think that's such a unique and incredible approach. I've had students with disabilities where that person has been the recipient of some sort of discriminatory action or microaggression, or just flat out aggression, aggression. And when the community comes together to support the student and demands specific action be taken for the community, the power of that is so big, but it also diffuses the opportunities to make it an individual person issue, right? It, all of a sudden now, is a community issue. The community has decided that this is not in line with our morals or values or our goals. And so, it takes the pressure off of that person, the person with the disability, or the person who's the minority person in the room, or the person who has, well for any identity, you know, being the minority versus the majority representation. I think that is absolutely essential.
Yeah. Particularly in medicine where there are such big power differentials that are very hard to navigate. So I think that that is really, that's really cool because when people then get behind someone that becomes a community issue, it's a lot easier for someone to navigate. I like that.
Some cultures are just more collective in their approach to things and community oriented. And in those cultures, people thrive regardless of their identity, whether it be because they're part of the queer community or because they have a disability or because they're a member of an ethnic or racial minority. And that brings it back to kind of your community to finding your people who are going to stand beside you and back you.
Going back to culture too recently, there was a trauma, in our emergency department and this group of people and one of the junior team from a surgical specialty was putting in a chest tube. And there was a surgeon in the room, there was an emergency physician in the room, and the surgeon started berating the person putting in chest tube, and the emergency physician stopped him. And he said, "We don't tolerate that kind of attitude towards people in our emergency department. So please stop."
It was, it was great. It was amazing and that was it. And I think we need that, right? We need people to speak up, we need people to really uphold that culture.
And the same thing for your example of women. Whether it's harassment or choosing to ask for, you know, a physician that's male, having a male walk into the room and say, "My colleague, Dr. So-and-so is extraordinarily competent, and you will treat her with respect. The idea of somebody with the power showing up for the other person who is being kind of attacked in that power differential.
I will actually teach the researchers in my research lab that the learners, students, the residents, how to respectfully, but forcefully stand up for someone with a disability or show up for somebody with a disability and, and do advocacy in a way that's respectful that calls people in that, you know, invites conversation and teaches people in a way, in a way that's educational.
We're all products of our environment, but we were all taught something by the people who, who've raised us, whether that's parents or family, or the community and family of medicine and what they've taught us. Um, but sometimes that has to be untaught. And so, if we approach it in this educational way where a person can have, well, we help them have a little bit more self-reflection about their actions or their words. I think that can be really powerful. And then, you know, while we're teaching students to do that in our lab, as part of just, how do you be a good ally and advocate, I think it's also important to teach them about the power in numbers, right? Going back to that community approach as well.
Totally. And I think two things from that is when we were going through this inherent requirement or, you know, the equivalent of technical standards in Australia, there were two medical students from Melbourne University that reached out to me at their own accord and didn't know them previously. And they said, "We've seen this document and we don't want our institution to be a part of that. How can we best the advocates to make sure that our institution remains inclusive?" And then they went and talked to their deans and staff and whatever else. And I thought that was amazing, but there was a talk, a SMACC talk, by an emergency physician named Cliff Reid. And he talks about heroes in it. He defines a hero as someone who does something for the benefit of another or other people, weathering personal risk, overcoming fear while having a very strong moral compass. And I think that's what this is about, right. I think you're teaching the medical students to be heroes and those little acts of heroism that really matter. Because it is about fear, and it is about overcoming personal risk because you think there's risk to your profession, or your career, or your education. But you are still guided by your moral compass to do something for the benefit of another, without expectation of personal gain. I think that's a really powerful concept.
Absolutely. And I think the personal risk is it's hard. I mean, these students are in, at the lowest order of all things. But I look at institutions like Stanford, and I think about what Pete's built in just a little over three years and all of the students that are now coming up through Stanford and some of the things that they've done that have been, I think, pretty risky. But they did it for change. And they're doing it as, you know, at risk to themselves, but to force a change in the system.
And yeah, I think it's honorable for sure.
I know, I'm so proud of them for doing that. It's really spectacular. Yeah.
But these are the people, these are the people that can shape the future and the future of the profession, and the future of the world. We need people to take the reins and stand up for something that's right. And I think that there've been so many movements of late that have had a powerful impact in society. But I think the voice of the people matters in creating change. The voices of the community matter, because I think we often forget that institutions and politicians are accountable to the people rather than the other way around. I was actually talking to Grace Forrest, who is an anti-slavery activist. And she was saying that companies change direction if it's as little as 14% of their consumers are activists for a certain thing. So, it doesn't take much for an institution to change direction. So, if we have a small pocket of activists, you can really make an organization listen.
Well, some of the big ones, you know, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Nike is hiring a disability specialist. I feel like in the last two years, many of the major corporations in America have hired on disability specialists or someone to come in and help, not only with informing the creation of products or the accessibility of the website or ordering or delivery, or in some way, shape, or form are employing people to help the company understand how to cater to the consumer that has a disability and I would say in the last year, I've seen it flip from not just catering to the consumer, but actually marketing to the disabled consumer. So, you know, we've seen the stories about the deodorant clothing, which is fantastic and you know, now sportswear. And so, I do think there is a big shift and companies are listening. It's, you know, when are the employers of major medical institutions going to hop onto that.
Yeah. And actually, I think some of those more mainstream conversations are important to contribute to the inclusion conversation in medical institutions as well. So, when you see it around the world and around big corporations and groups like that, I think you are compelled to at least think about it.
The conversation now shifts to consider how medical institutions can create and promote proactive strategies to support learners and colleagues with disabilities. Listen or read along as Dr. Meeks, Dr. Poullos, and Dr. Palipana discuss the value of open conversations, diverse spaces, and academic scholarship in not only supporting disabled learners but in showing that they are valuable and essential members of medical professions.
How do you think that our medical institutions can shift the burden of change away from people like us with disabilities so that the institutions end up being more proactive than reactive?
It's still gonna be attitudes, isn't it? I think the messaging that I've seen and some of the work that I've seen, most institutions are still driven by profits and efficiency in projects. And in fact, that's probably one of the broader challenges in medical care that we have is how do we deliver high quality care while dealing with these issues about budgets and whatever else that's coming from the high down. And I think inclusion is the same because I think that it's a costly thing, or they think that it might be a difficult thing in that it might be challenging. But I think if we can demonstrate that this is a beneficial thing and this has the potential to increase your efficiency and new profits and whatever else, then at least the top level of the institutions will start to buy into it a bit more.
I just think we have to frame it as the benefit and then it has to just filter down from there. And I think from that level down, that probably has to be more stick than carrot. I think people just have to be, sadly, punished for not, not doing the right thing. I mean, I told you the story about radiology earlier. Our radiology department. When I took that to the director of human resources, that story, her response at the time was to move to a different hospital that might be more supportive. So, it just has to be something that the top level believes in. And then if there's anyone there below that's not willing to buy in, and that does things that are contrary to inclusion, then I think it has to be a little slap on the wrist.
What you said earlier about, like, middle management is really true and it's just your story about radiology there versus emergency medicine and like, that's that one radiology department wasn't welcoming. It so happens that my radiology department is welcoming. But when you think about all the people with disabilities and all the hospitals throughout the world, you know, most people, nurses, therapists, CNAs, doctors, anybody who is taking care of patients, they're reporting to somebody and that supervisor, chances are, will not be well-trained in how to deal with employees with disabilities. And so, you might get lucky and your supervisor might be open-minded, might be familiar with the law, and might treat you well, but it's kind of like the luck of the draw.
These disability conversations are happening every day. Like everywhere all the time. Like, "Hey, can I get off at four instead of five today? I have to go to a doctor's appointment," or “Can you cover my shift for me tomorrow? I'm not feeling well," you know, what is the attitude of your colleagues and the supervisors and what sort of, not even accommodations in the formal sense, but adjustments are people willing to make to support one another. Unfortunately, it's just, it's very random.
Yeah, I totally agree. But I also think that's why it's important that we shape the medical students of today, like you and Lisa are doing. You know, sometimes it's even, even when you have a group of juniors or people coming up, that to say "Wait, that's not okay. Why are you saying that?" Questioning these ancient attitudes that are getting around and sometimes that's enough for people to think about. So, I think having the next generation, I think that's important too, to kind of force the senior medical establishment to start thinking of it differently. But I also think the presence of more diverse people within hospitals and within different specialties is really valuable as well, because a lot of this is about the fear of the unknown, whether you're talking about people of color or people of different culture or people with disabilities, whatever else.
I remember you know, at a certain point in my career, I worked with a very, very senior surgeon who actually, I was terrified of because I often hear them yelling and whatever else. So, I was really, I was really nervous to start spending my term with them. And so, on my first day I turned up and I was like, just terrified. But it went really well. This whole term went by and then we got to the end of it and it came time to do my evaluations. So, we sat in their room and they started talking to me about what it was like having a person in a wheelchair coming through their service. And they told me that initially there was a great deal of hesitancy and concern. And then as the term went on, they said that their thoughts started shifting, and by the end of it, they said that they were ashamed that they thought that way at the start because their whole attitude about medicine had changed about what a doctor is, and who, who could be practicing medicine.
And that was a really nice moment from someone who is very traditional and very senior to have the humility to explain that their attitude had shifted over that period of time when it happened. Also, yesterday in our spinal cord research lab, I was talking to two of my colleagues. So, they have a very diverse range of religious, political and social beliefs, and lifestyles and whatever else. And we were having a conversation openly talking about those beliefs, sharing things together. And as we understood each other there was a great deal of respect and openness. And it was a very good conversation, but I think that's one of the things, right, if we share experiences, and we share time together. And if we openly understand each other with respect, those attitudes shift. I think that that is really valuable.
This sort of pattern, like people are scared or skeptical. They don't know what to do, and they make the adjustments because they have to, and then at the end of it, they look back and they say, "Wow, that wasn't easy, but it was so worth it." And their attitudes change. It's just like one person at a time through this contact.
Pete and I have written about this and kind of taking the premise of contact theory and applying it to the inclusion of people with disabilities and the implications for reducing stereotypes and stigma around disability. And I think that's one mechanism for doing this. And we were responding and kind of writing up what someone had done at the University of Washington in emergency medicine actually, Dinesh, but I think there's one step further.
The people at Washington not only did this and were innovative in their approach to including this learner, but then wrote it up for the academic medicine scholarship. I think people have these moments where they have learners with disabilities, whether they were forced to, because, you know, we have to follow the law or because they wanted to just for the social justice perspective, you know, this is a learner in our program and we're going to be inclusive either way. They have that “aha!” moment. And what I generally do when I hear about those things, I just did it for our department of surgery and we just submitted a piece, I come in as kind of the cheerleader and I'm like, "This is great. This is great. You have a great attitude."
The clerkship director is like, "This was no big deal." And I'm like, "I need you to put that in academic words, in a paper," because I think the thing that we failed to do in disability, where we do it with everything else is to see the potential for scholarship in this space and to write up these case studies or these theories, and to disseminate that to our peers, such that the next time a person is in a position where they're going to be including a learner with a disability, and they're fearful, if they were to look on PubMed or Google scholar, or what have you, there would be some guidance there. Somebody else that had gone through that would have been able to maybe squash those fears a bit. I think it's also a great resource for disability resource providers or other individuals that are in charge of determining reasonable adjustments or reasonable accommodations, to be able to go to a clerkship and say, "This was successfully done at Stanford, and at the University of Washington, and at UCSF, and at Rush University and at Northwestern."
And when we start talking about the inclusion of individuals with spinal cord injuries in medicine, I can give you coast to coast, examples of schools that have successfully done it. And you have this mounting evidence that it is not only not impossible at the end of the day, it's not a big deal. Then you have a really hard time justifying the exclusion of a learner and saying that it's not possible. And not only do you have a hard time doing that just as an ethical, moral, logistical issue. But also, if it were to become litigious and all of these other people have done it, and all of these other people have written about it, it becomes really difficult to legally defend your actions. So, I'm getting a two bird, one stone situation with the manuscripts, with the scholarship because it shifts the conversation, it changes the norms, and it gives people a defense if they need it.
Oh, Lisa, you, every time you talk, it reminds me of why I am your protégé.
(laughs)
I love, I love the grand plan. That's cool. Yeah.
In this final section, listen or read along as Dr. Palipana shares his advice for learners with disabilities seeking to enter medical professions and his advice for the educators who work in medical institutions.
So, the podcast was developed out of this need to provide mentorship in a situation where there are hardly any mentors available for learners.
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
And so it’s this kind of asynchronous mentorship. The learner can log on, can look at the podcast, can choose who they wanna listen to and get some golden nuggets, some advice to help them kind of navigate the (laughs), the sometimes landmines of academic medicine, or whatever profession.
To the learners, and this is a bit more of a philosophical piece of advice. I've been at points in my life where I've looked back, and I've thought about the future. And I decided that I don't want to live with any regrets when I look back at my life. So, when it comes to the end of the day, and when it comes to certain checkpoints in life, you are going to be the only person there, and you are going to be the only person that can be held responsible for your choices. All the people that might've provided barriers, or that might've challenged you along the way, that might've tried to stop you, they're not going to be there. And they're gonna be living their own lives, doing whatever else. So, it's going to be you holding the check.
So, my advice is don't let them stop you from living the life that you want, and don't let them get you to a point where you have regrets, keep going and find places and find ways and challenge systems, and challenge people. Keep going so you can get to a point, look back and be happy that you've done everything you can to live the life that you want. And that is really, really important. To the faculty, educators, to senior doctors, and to whoever else, inclusion is really important for so many reasons. It's not just a legal requirement but it's beneficial. It increases efficiency. It benefits organizations and teams, and it's so valuable, but it's really up to you. It's up to you to be allies, it's up to you to be leaders, it's up to you to be thought leaders, and you have to be heroes to do it. So, please think about doing the right thing. Think about fighting for people and think about leading the way, because with you the change starts.
That was lovely. Well, it is a pleasure to have been in your company this evening. And I know I'm a huge fan, and I think we're all across the country, just watching you with amazement and everything you've done for Australia and New Zealand and educating people on the value of doctors with disabilities, and anything we can do to support you we're always here. But it was my pleasure, and I know Pete's pleasure, to speak with you this evening and thank you so much for coming on the show.
Thank you, you've supported me in ways that you probably don't even know. And there's a mutual fan club going on here, so I'm a big Lisa Meeks fan.
So thank you for everything that you've done for making the road easier for people like me, and people going through similar experiences.
To our guest, Dr. Palipana, thank you so much for joining us for this episode. I speak on behalf of the entire Docs with Disabilities team when I say that we are so grateful, not only for your willingness to share your thoughts and ideas in this interview, but for the work you do every day to advocate for people with disabilities across the world.
To our audience, we hope you found this conversation impactful and meaningful. If you have not done so already, we highly encourage you to check out the other episodes in our BIPOC voices series. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you'll join us next time.
This podcast is a production of the Stanford Medicine, Stanford Medical Abilities Coalition, the Stanford Department of Radiology, and the University of Michigan Medical School Department of Family Medicine MDisability initiative. The opinions on this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions. It is released under creative commons attribution, non-commercial, non-derivative license. This episode was produced by Pete Poullos, Lisa Meeks, Sofia Schlozman, and Jacob Feeman.
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Ep 20: After the Conference: A Critical Conversation about Next Steps
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Ep 27: Double Trouble: Introducing the Stanford Series
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Episode 31: Dr. Neera Jain
Episode 32 Dr. Rana Awdish
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Episode 40: Dr. Daniel Woolridge
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Episode 44: Ken Sutha
Episode 45: Dr. Nathaniel Gleason
Episode 46: Payam Massaband, MD
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Episode 48: Dr. Allison Kessler
Episode 49: Ramsay vs. NBME Panel
Episode 50: Part 1: Dr. Rex Marco
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Tiger Woods practices at St Andrews ahead of return at The Open
July 10, 2022 by PlayerN01
Tiger Woods practices at St Andrews as he prepares to make his latest return to the professional tour by competing at the 150th edition of the Open… with the 46-year-old looking to defy the odds to win at the Old Course for the third time
Tiger Woods has not played since pulling out of the PGA Championship in May
However, he has arrived at St Andrews and is set to compete at the Open
The 15-time major winner played a practice round at the Old Course on Sunday
After another spell on the sidelines, it is hard to predict how Woods will fare
He has won at St Andrews twice before, and will be hoping to do the same again
By Sam Brookes For Mailonline
Published: 08:13 EDT, 10 July 2022 | Updated: 08:13 EDT, 10 July 2022
Tiger Woods has been completing a practice round at St Andrews as he prepares to make his return to golf at the 150th edition of the Open this week.
The 15-time major winner has not been seen on the professional tour since he pulled out of the PGA Championship after the third round in May due to injury.
He did play in the JP McManus Pro-Am charity exhibition on Monday and Tuesday, and he has now given a further indication that he will make the start line in Scotland by practicing at the Old Course.
Tiger Woods looked to be enjoying himself as he played a practice round at St Andrews
Those watching the 15-time major winner were treated to a trademark fist-pump at one stage
Woods is set to compete at the 150th edition of the Open when it gets underway on Thursday
Woods attempted his full array of strokes as he looked to be testing whether he is in condition to compete at the top of the leaderboard.
The American has previously claimed that he only enters into tournaments if he believes he is capable of winning them.
Woods crashed his car in February 2021, which led to him suffering multiple leg injuries, and he appeared to still be feeling the effects of those at the PGA Championship.
Fans were in attendance to watch the American icon practice his full array of strokes
Woods has won at St Andrews twice before, lifting the Claret Jug there in 2000 and 2005
Fans will be eager to see whether he looks to be in better shape this time around if he does opt to play at the Open.
He has come back from injuries before, famously winning the Masters in 2019 less than two years after undergoing his fourth major back operation.
The 46-year-old will want to prove that he still has plenty left in the tank this week, and he has an exceptional record at St Andrews.
He won at the iconic golf course in 2000 and 2005, and will hope to defy the odds and make it a hat-trick of victories next Sunday.
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Amazon opens first disaster-relief logistics hub
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) said Tuesday it has opened its first facility dedicated to storing and distributing emergency supplies used in supporting disaster-relief efforts.
The 10,000-cubic-foot facility near Atlanta holds more than half a million relief supplies that were donated and pre-positioned by Amazon, the Seattle-based e-tailer said. The facility is designed to support relief groups responding to disasters in the U.S. Southeast, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Central America, Amazon said. The announcement’s timing coincided with the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Atlanta was chosen because of its relatively close proximity to the affected areas, Amazon said. The site’s location will help Amazon’s humanitarian aid partners respond more swiftly to natural disasters, it said. The company did not specify the facility’s exact whereabouts.
The facility’s opening is the culmination of four years of study by Amazon into ways to expedite disaster-relief responses. Typically, emergency teams assess what supplies they have, procure items that they need and then consolidate, pack and ship the supplies into disaster zones. The process can take several days from start to finish. Amazon’s pre-positioning strategy is an effort to accelerate the process to quickly get supplies to where they’re needed, it said.
The strategy is designed to quickly ship out the supplies most commonly needed at the front end of disaster relief. Those goods include tarps, tents, water containers and filters, medical equipment, clothing items and kitchen supplies. Once those supplies are airborne on the first flight out, Amazon will work with its partners to identify other needed supplies from the company’s vast inventory.
Amazon will likely expand its disaster-relief hub network at some point, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
The Atlanta disaster-relief hub will initially support six global humanitarian aid organizations: the American Red Cross, Direct Relief, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Medical Corps, Save the Children and World Central Kitchen.
Amazon said it has donated more than $29 million in cash and in-kind products in response to 59 natural disasters around the world since 2017.
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Tag: Dyess Air Force Base
Abilene, Texas Road Trip: Things to Do
On July 20, 2019 July 6, 2022 By Mike and Kellye HefnerIn Museums, National Historic Landmark, Picnicing on the Road, Places, State Parks3 Comments
Abilene, Texas may now be known as the storybook capital of America, but the city is so much more. In 1881 when lots began being sold and cattlemen began shipping cattle on the Texas and Pacific Railway, a thriving city was born. Shortly thereafter, Abilene was named county seat of Taylor County, having won a vote to move it from Buffalo Gap. Today, Abilene is home to three universities, satellite campuses of a junior college and a technical college, as well as Dyess Air Force Base. Located 150 miles west of Fort Worth on I-20, Abilene is a can’t miss stop on a West Texas road trip. We highly recommend staying over for a day or two to experience this wonderful, historic city.
On the beaten path…
Frontier Texas!
Located at 625 N 1st Street. This is a multimedia museum unlike any other we have ever seen, and we loved it. Go to learn about the history of West Texas from the people who settled the area. Exceptional western heritage exhibits, videos, and holograms. Yes, holograms, and they are amazing! Beautiful building, lovely grounds, and a nice gift shop, too. Open Monday – Saturday 9:00 – 6:00 and Sunday 1:00 – 5:00. Adults $10.00, Seniors/Military $7.00, Students/Teachers $6.00, Children (3-12) $5.00, Ages 2 and under are free.
Flying Buffalo Herd at Frontier Texas
The Grace Museum
The Grace Museum is an art and history museum that includes a hands-on children’s museum area. The building was originally the Hotel Grace, built in 1909. We happened to visit on a free admission day, but we would have gladly paid the $6.00 per adult fee for the art exhibits alone. Located at 102 Cypress Street, The Grace Museum is open 10:00 – 5:00 Tuesday – Saturday.
Storybook Sculptures
The Lorax in Everman Park
Storybook sculptures can be found all over downtown Abilene. Dr. Seuss characters, among others, can be seen in Everman Park (across the street from The Grace Museum) and more at the Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden (1008 N. 6th Street). Kids and adults of all ages will love these whimsical characters! Click here for a Storybook Adventure Guide: Abilene Storybook Adventure. While visiting downtown Abilene, be sure to check out the NCCIL (National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature) located at 102 Cedar Street for weekly children’s activities, an illustration gallery, and a children’s bookstore. The NCCIL (aka the nickel) is open 10:00 – 4:00 Tuesday – Saturday.
Characters emerge straight out of the pages of a storybook! This fabulous sculpture in Everman Park is called “Childhood’s Great Adventure”
Abilene Zoological Park
2070 Zoo Lane. Though smaller than some big city zoos, this is a clean, well-kept zoo with a variety of animals. In addition to the many animal exhibits, there are a couple of kiddie rides, a concession area, and a zoo store. There are picnic tables outside of the zoo in the adjacent Grover Nelson Park. A splash pad, playground, duck pond, walking trail, and dog park are also located in the park. The zoo is open 9:00 – 5:00 daily. Adults – $8.00, Seniors – $7.00, Children 3-12 $5.50, Children under 3 are admitted free.
Other points of interest on the beaten path…
12th Armored Division Memorial Museum – 1289 N. 2nd Street. Open 10:00 – 5:00 Tuesday – Saturday.
Center for Contemporary Arts – 220 Cypress Street. Open 11:00 – 5:00 Tuesday – Saturday.
Paramount Theater – 352 Cypress Street. Free self-guided tours 12:00 – 5:00 weekdays.
Dyess Air Force Base Visitor Center Memorial Park – Arnold Blvd & Military Drive. Open 7:30 – 4:00 weekdays.
“Jacob’s Dream” sculpture on the Abilene Christian University campus. One of our favorite places in Abilene. Located off of N Judge Ely Blvd on Teague Blvd.
Abilene State Park
Not only is Abilene State Park a beautiful park, it is one of our favorite camping spots! Located approximately 30 minutes south of the city of Abilene, this park has a lot to offer in the way of recreation. Primitive campsites, water and electric sites, full hookup sites, playground, hiking and biking trails, swimming pool (summer), picnic areas, yurt rentals, group areas/facilities, fishing, boating, soccer and baseball fields, wildlife and bird watching can all be found at this park.
This happy little cardinal was visiting the campground
Steps leading from the swimming pool concession building to a creek and meadow beyond
One of the gorgeous campsites at Abilene State Park
Taylor County History Center
The original Taylor County courthouse is now part of the Buffalo Gap Historic Village, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places
We wondered who might have lived in this rustic old cabin. Buffalo hunter? Farmer? Rancher?
Approximately 22 minutes southwest of Abilene, the Taylor County History Center is located at 133 N William, Buffalo Gap, Texas. Open 10:00 – 5:00 Tuesday – Saturday. Adults $7.00, Seniors/Military $6.00, Students $4.00, Ages 5 and under are free. All buildings are open for visitors to walk through unless it is raining/muddy.
Fort Phantom Hill
Remains of the commissary/storehouse
The chimneys are all that remain of the hospital complex
Fort Phantom Hill is located about 20 minutes north of Abilene on West Lake Road (aka FM 600) and is open daily from dawn to dusk for self-guided tours. Very interesting, and as one of the highlights of our trip we highly recommend a visit.
Lake Fort Phantom Hill
Beautiful lake for fishing, boating and other water sports
Lake Fort Phantom Hill is approximately 20 minutes north of Abilene, and is accessible from West Lake Road (aka FM 600) or from East Lake Road (aka FM 2833). Camping, boat ramps, picnic/barbecue areas, sand volleyball court, and a disc golf course are some of the recreational activities available at Lake Fort Phantom Hill.
Other points of interest off the beaten path…
Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene -7457 West Lake Road. Open daily 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Perini Ranch Restaurant – 3002 FM 89, Buffalo Gap. Make a dinner reservation! Here’s the website: Perini Ranch
Eating and sleeping…
Cypress Street Station – 158 Cypress Street (downtown). We recommend for lunch.
Lytle Land and Cattle Company – 1150 E South 11th Street. We recommend for dinner.
Hampton Inn – two locations to choose from. See our Places/Links tab above for website. Many other hotels along I-20, on the south side of town, and near downtown.
Sweetwater, Texas: National WASP World War II Museum at Avenger Field
Fifinella, the mascot of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), was designed by none other than Walt Disney
Approximately 1,800 women served as WASPs during WWII. These unsung heroes worked long hours and performed dangerous jobs for very little pay. They did not receive veteran status or benefits until 1977. In 2009, the WASPs were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Located 35 minutes west of Abilene off of I-20, this free museum is definitely worth a stop for some interesting WWII history. Open 10:00 – 5:00 Tuesday – Saturday and 1:00 – 5:00 on Sunday. Donations are appreciated.
→While in Sweetwater, stop by Allen’s Family Style Meals for the best fried chicken and other mouth-watering home cooked food you’ll find anywhere. This is an all-you-can-eat, sit-with-your-neighbors, no-menu, eat-what’s-served, Sunday dinner-type restaurant. (How’s that for a description?) Located at 1301 E Broadway Street in the original Allen family home. Open 11:00 am – 2:00 pm Tuesday – Sunday.
Albany, Texas: Fort Griffin State Historic Site
Fort Griffin was a US military site from 1876 – 1881, during the Indian Wars. The fort housed both federal troops and buffalo soldiers. Some of Fort Griffin’s troops fought Comanche Indians at Palo Duro Canyon during the Red River Wars. The town of Fort Griffin, also called the Flat, was located just north of the fort, and was once the largest town between Dallas and El Paso. Famous locals included Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. During the mid-1870s as many as 1,500 buffalo hunters called the Flat their headquarters. As a side note, the Flat was a rambunctious town that included 21 saloons and 22 houses of ill repute. By 1949, the Flat was no more than a ghost town.
Located approximately 50 minutes northeast of Abilene via Texas Hwy 351 and US Hwy 180. Open daily from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Adults $4.00, Seniors/Students $3.00, Ages 5 and under are admitted free.
At one time, Fort Griffin had 93 buildings on its grounds and housed as many as 469 soldiers. Now, almost 150 years later, ruins are all that remain.
The ruins of the Sutler’s Store. A sutler was a civilian merchant. Sutlers sold goods to buffalo hunters and local citizens, as well as the soldiers who were stationed at the fort.
This is a young longhorn. (Just look at that sweet baby’s face!) Fort Griffin has been the home of the Official Texas State Longhorn Herd since 1948.
The visitor center has an interesting museum and also a gift shop. Golf carts are available for those who want to ride rather than walk through the ruins of the fort. A recreation area is located across the highway, and offers a fabulous campground with water and electric sites as well as full hookups and tent sites. There is also an equestrian campground, hiking trails, access to the Clear Fork of the Brazos River, a playground, and a dump station. Fishing is allowed from the river bank without a license.
This is one of the well-maintained, beautiful campsites at Fort Griffin
That’s going to do it for our Abilene, Texas road trip. Please come back to our site each week for another great tip, trick, or trip. Become a follower so you never miss a post, and follow us on Facebook. Thank you for reading and for joining us on our journeys! We will close this post with a picture of a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that we saw near Fort Griffin.