December Narrative Medicine Rounds with journalist Linda Villarosa

“Covering Race, Racism and Inequality on Health: A Journalist's Perspective”, a conversation with Linda Villarosa moderated by Dr. Monica Lypson.

For our final rounds of the fall term, we are honored to welcome Linda Villarosa, Pulitzer Prize finalist and contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, who will be speaking about her recent book Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation.

In Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation, Villarosa lays bare the forces in the American health-care system and in American society that cause Black people to “live sicker and die quicker” compared to their white counterparts. Today’s medical texts and instruments still carry fallacious slavery-era assumptions that Black bodies are fundamentally different from white bodies. Study after study of medical settings show worse treatment and outcomes for Black patients. Black people live in dirtier, more polluted communities due to environmental racism and neglect from all levels of government. And, most powerfully, Villarosa describes the new understanding that coping with the daily scourge of racism ages Black people prematurely. Anchored by unforgettable human stories and offering incontrovertible proof, Under the Skin is dramatic, tragic, and necessary reading.

Linda Villarosa is an award-winning journalist who covers race, inequality and public health at The New York Times Magazine. Her work examines HIV/AIDS, maternal health and maternal mortality, environmental justice, COVID-19 racial health disparities and life expectancy. A former executive editor of Essence Magazine, she is the author of the book Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation. It was honored as one of the top 10 books of 2022 by The New York Times Book Review and was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize.Villarosa’s contribution to The New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project highlights race-based physiological myths that have endured in medical practice since slavery, and an expanded version of her essay was included in the book The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. A graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, where she is now a professor, Villarosa also teaches journalism, English and Black Studies at the City College of New York.

Linda Villarosa will be in conversation with Dr. Monica Lypson, MD, MHPE, the Vice Dean for Education at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and serves as the Rolf H. Scholdager Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.  She previously served as a professor,  and Vice-Chair of Medicine, Division Director of General Internal Medicine at The George Washington University School of Medical and Health Sciences. She has been serving the generalist community as President-elect, President and Past President of the Society of General Internal Medicine.  In these role, Dr. Lypson provides visionary leadership for a diverse group of faculty and students involved in educational and innovation, medical education research, and, community outreach.  She is committed to creating and supporting the academic careers of faculty members interested in intersection of education, patient centered care and research. 

Her work focuses on innovations and improvements in health professions education and assessment, health equity, workforce diversity, faculty development, medical care delivery, and provider communication skills. Dr. Lypson's prior role in government included serving as the Director for Medical and Dental Education for the Veterans Health Administration, where she oversaw undergraduate and graduate medical education across the nation within the Department of Veteran Affairs. Dr. Lypson is a board-certified general internist with significant leadership experience in clinical, educational, and administrative arenas. Dr. Lypson's research interests include health professional trainee assessment, historical and contemporary trends in medical education, academic leadership and the under representation of minorities in academic medicine. 

​​​​​Narrative Medicine Rounds are monthly rounds held on the first Wednesday of the month during the academic year, hosted by the Division of Narrative Medicine in the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Rounds are supported by live captioning. If you have any other accessibility needs or concerns, please contact the Office of Disability Services at 212-854-2388 or disability [[at]] columbia [[dot]] edu (disability[at]columbia[dot]edu) at least 10 days in advance of the event. We do our best to arrange accommodations received after this deadline but cannot guarantee them. A recording of our Virtual Narrative Medicine rounds is available following the live session on the Narrative Medicine YouTube channel, and you can watch other recent Rounds events there.