MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS SUMMER READING: SUMMER 2020

Directions:

1. Obtain a copy of the book What the Eyes Don’t See by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. A select number of copies are available at the La Plata High School library on a first come, first serve basis. Copies are also available at the public library and on Amazon. This book was the Maryland One book for 2019. This book mentions some of the epidemiologists and public health cases we learn about and study during Medical Interventions, as well as water quality concepts discussed during Biomedical Innovations.

2. At minimum, please read the chapters listed below. As you read the book, answer questions #1-40. You may write your answers on this worksheet or a separate piece of notebook paper or you may type your answers. This assignment will be due on Wednesday, September 9. This will be entered as a PROCESS grade for quarter one. There will be a quiz over the chapters of the book listed below and the concepts discussed in the first 239 pages of the book on Friday, September 11th. The quiz grade will be entered as a PRODUCT grade for quarter one.

3. You will be asked to read portions of the remainder of the book (select segments from pages 250-325) by the end of quarter two. During Unit 1.4, Epidemiology, we will discuss how Dr. Mona and her team’s efforts and research led to the findings made regarding in Flint’s water. We will also discuss what actions were taken and what steps should be taken in epidemics/public health incidents, such as the .

List of chapters (at minimum) to read:

-Chapter 1 -Chapter 2 -Chapter 3 -Chapter 4 -Chapter 7 -Chapter 8 -Chapter 10 -Chapter 11 -Chapter 13 -Chapter 14 -Chapter 15 -Chapter 17

*With any questions about this summer assignment, please see Mrs. Schoenbauer in Sc405 or email Mrs. Schoenbauer at [email protected].

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Chapters 1 and 2:

1. What did Mona study and major in during college?

2. Why did Mona choose these majors?

3. When did Mona become director of Hurley Medical Center? Briefly describe Mona’s role at Hurley Medical Center.

4. Mona discusses community pediatrics. What is community pediatrics?

Chapter 3:

5. We will discuss several examples of unethical public health cases during semester two of this year’s biomedical science course, Medical Interventions. Briefly describe what the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment taught us, as a society.

6. How was the source of the Flint water supply changed to save money? (This was the root cause of the water problems in Flint, Michigan.)

7. Mona’s friend, Elin, mentions the DC water crisis to Mona at her home one evening. Research the DC Water Crisis and briefly summarize your findings in one paragraph below.

8. Where you aware of the DC Water Crisis before reading this book? Explain your feelings on the DC Water Crisis after researching it.

9. Explain what happens to the bodies of babies, such as Nakala, when consuming water with elevated lead levels for extensive periods of time?

Chapter 4:

10. What does ppb refer to regarding water testing?

11. What is considered the ‘action level’ for lead in the water?

12. Explain the role Lee-Anne Walters played in the Flint Water Crisis.

13. Explain why some cities transitioned from using chlorination for water treatment to chlorimination.

Chapter 7:

14. During this course, we will talk about John Snow and his role in epidemiology. Briefly describe John Snow and his contributions to the field of epidemiology and public health.

15. How were the challenges John Snow faced in London similar to those that Dr. Mona faced in Flint, Michigan?

16. Briefly explain how Snow’s persistence and passion for truth allowed him to save thousands, potentially millions of lives.

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17. Briefly explain the contributions Paul Shekwana made to public health in the Midwest.

18. Why do you think forty-five seconds of flushing occurred in many cases, before water samples were taken? What are your thoughts to flushing before taking samples of water to test?

Chapter 8:

19. MDHHS and Genesee County Health Department are mentioned several times throughout this book. What is the difference between these two groups? How does the role of each differ? (This may require you searching these two groups online.)

Chapter 10:

20. In chapter ten, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha mentions the lack of response from the state health department. In your opinion, why do you think the state was so unresponsive?

21. What did the results from the tests run by Marc Edwards tell Dr. Mona and us?

22. Why did Dr. Mona Hannah-Attisha solicit Mark Edwards help?

23. Why did Dr. Mona and Jenny spend time looking at the zip code kids at their clinic lived in?

24. We will discuss the importance of the IRB this year in more depth. What does IRB stand for? What is the purpose of the IRB? (This may require you to complete additional research.)

Chapter #11:

25. Explain why Dr. Mona considers Alice Hamilton one of her heroes.

26. Why does Dr. Mona consider Kettering to be a ‘public health villain?’

27. Name three locations, aside from water, where lead exists and can cause lead exposure in individuals.

Chapter 13:

28. Mona mentions several institutions that Mark Edwards had interactions with including the EPA and CDC. Look up these two organizations and identify the purpose of each.

29. Mark Edwards believed the Safe Drinking Water Act and the was violated. Look up these two acts and identify their purpose below.

30. Why do you think Mona and her team had to submit an application to the IRB to get access to the blood-lead levels from other clinics and doctors in the Flint area?

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Chapter 14:

31. One of the challenges Dr. Mona and her team faced related to study design, specifically time frame. Why did the time frame/seasonality of when blood lead levels were collected matter?

32. In biology and Principles of Biomedical Sciences, you learned about Experimental Design and good practices to follow when designing an experiment. Identify three factors related to Experimental Design that Dr. Mona and her team had to consider when designing their study to determine the side effects Flint’s water was having on its citizens.

Chapter 15:

33. As Dr. Mona and Marc began getting data for the blood lead levels for children in the Flint area, what became their goal?

Chapter 17:

34. Identify some of the side effects Dr. Mona said increased blood lead levels could cause.

35. What were some of the interventions and primary preventions Dr. Mona recommended for the people of Flint during her convention?

All chapters- The following questions cover concepts that were not mentioned in one specific chapter of the book but were discussed throughout much of the first seventeen chapters. Please answer the following questions below.

36. Dr. Mona spends a significant amount of time discussing her past upbringing, her ancestry and her family. Why do you think she spends time during the book discussing these things? How does her sharing this information help us better understand her and her approach to the Flint Water Crisis?

37. During her pediatric residency, Dr. Mona first heard the expression, “The eyes don’t see what the mind doesn’t know,” based on a quote by D. H. Lawrence. Why are pediatricians, and healthcare professionals, trained to look beyond what is immediately apparent?

38. Dr. Mona includes an excerpt from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss as the epigraph for this book: “Unless someone like you / cares a whole awful lot / nothing is going to get better. / It’s not.” Why do you think she chose this passage? How does it relate to Dr. Mona’s advocacy work in Flint?

39. What were some things (identify at least three) that you think should have been done by MDEQ, MDHHS, and/or the Genesee County Health Department to prevent the Flint Water Crisis from reaching the magnitude it did.

40. Were you inspired by Dr. Mona’s story and contributions to public health and the biomedical sciences? Does this story excite and motivate you to enter the biomedical profession and have help individuals as Dr. Mona did? Why or why not?

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