Mary Brandt On Guns, Doctors, & Public Health

Dr. Mary Brandt is a Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics, and Medical Ethics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and is in full-time clinical practice as a Pediatric Surgeon at Texas Children’s Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. She joins us to discuss the rapidly growing physician response to a tweet around gun violence in America and the #thisismylane movement.

Key Learnings

1. The power of doctors sharing pictures of the aftermath of gun violence with #thisismylane, #itisourlane, #itisourlane

3. What really enraged physicians in the wake of the NRA’s tweet about physicians and gun violence.

5. Using the power of these stories to move the conversation about gun violence from a political issue to a public health issue.

6. Stories of gun violence from a Pediatric Surgeon.

7. The disconnect between the perception and reality of what bullets do to a human body

8. How managing bullet trauma degrades physician wellness

9. The steps needed to push this movement forward in the right direction

10. The importance of setting a template of kindness around the conversation of gun control

11. Resolving the quandary raised by impulsive behavior, access to firearms, and gun-related death

12. What happens when a physician has a conversation around access to guns with their patients

13. Dr. Brandt creates the next viral hashtag! #asktosavealife

Dr. Brandt’s blog, www.wellnessrounds.org

Here is the recent American College of Physician article on reducing firearm injuries & deaths in the United States.

Per Gunviolencearchive.org on 11/14/2018: 12,746 deaths due to firearms in the United States

We’ve tackled gun violence on Explore The Space before, here’s ACP President Jack Ende in episode 63