Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatohepatitis (MASLD) (Holt, 2/25/2026)

A recording of this presentation is available HERE.

Ethical Deviations and Inequities in the Delivery of Health Care (Matthews, 2/11/26)

A recording of this presentation is available HERE.

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Special thanks to Dr. Adora Matthews, Sutter's CME of Inclusion and Belonging. She gave an important presentation on Inequity in the Delivery of Health Care-- as a celebration/reminder of Black History Month and a reminder of our commitment to delivering equitable and excellent care to every patient we serve. 

Dr. Matthews reminded us of four important historical occurrences that still contribute to fractured trust in the medical system for black Americans:

1) Dr J. Marion Sims, often referred to as "the father of modern gynecology", a white man, who operated on black slaves without anesthesia, perfected his hysterectomies and vesico-vaginal fistula repair on black slaves without consent, and contributed to a long-held notion in medicine that "black people don't feel pain the same as white people". After  all surgical assistants resigned due to discomfort with his work, he ultimately forced three black slave women (named Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy) to assist him in these experimental surgeries.

A statue to honor these three women, the "Mothers of Gynecology" stands today in Montgomery, Alabama. 

2) The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment, which took place from 1932-1972, in which 400 black male sharecroppers were knowingly observed to study the natural history of syphilis, even after cure/treatment for syphilis was widely available (in the form of penicillin!). Spouses were infected, babies were born with congenital syphilis, extreme pathology was documented. This is widely considered the greatest failure of medical ethics in our country. This experiment didn't end until it was leaked to the press in 1972. A formal apology rendered by President Bill Clinton in 1997, calling the experiment "shameful and racist". 

3) Henrietta Lacks was a black woman who was treated in 1951 for cervical cancer at John's Hopkins University. After she died that same year, her cell line (HeLa) was used (without consent) for countless projects, including vaccine development, medical research, most recently for the COVID vaccine development. 110,000 publications are attributed to her cell lines, which are still in use today. The Lacks family was unaware of this use of her cells until 1973, when they were approached by a scientist who wanted to study them. 

These historical truths (and many others) contribute now to systemic inequity and mistrust. We must be aware of these histories, warned Dr. Adora Matthews, when we are caring for black American patients. We must be aware of them when we see current inequities. And while being aware isn't enough, it's a start.

Four current inequities for Black patients:

1) Healthcare access: black and brown patients have higher rates of being uninsured, are less likely to have preventive care, and less likely to have a regular PCP.

2) Chronic disease management: black American women have some of the highest rates (40%) of metabolic syndrome, which doubles CV risk, increases all cause mortality, and is associated with DM, CKD and stroke.

3) Maternal and fetal health outcomes: black women have highest rates of maternal mortality and fetal mortality, even when controlling for SES (see graphs below)

4) Pain management: Biased beliefs about black patients and pain tolerance dating back centuries with no evidence-- still exist today. There is literature from emergency rooms, hospitals and clinics that black patients are less likely to receive pain medication for the same painful condition.

Dr. Matthews reminded us that knowing the history (and the current inequities) is where we begin-- from here we begin to look at systems and address systemic racism in the daily work we do. We turn our grief, sadness, anger and despair into hope for our patients. We confront our own biases by attending lectures like these and participating in unconscious/implicit bias assessment ( Harvard's can be found HERE). 

"Hotter than Ever" Menopause and Non-Hormonal Therapies (Kareer, 2/4/2026)

A recording of this presentation is available HERE.