OB/GYN

Celeste Arden Swain, MD Celeste Arden Swain, MD (1 Posts)

Resident Physician Contributing Writer

Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco


Celeste Arden Swain MD is a 4th year OB/GYN resident at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco. She attended Bowdoin College for her undergraduate degree and Drexel University College of Medicine for her medical degree. She will be starting a Minimally Invasive Gynecology Fellowship in Portland Oregon this summer. Celeste enjoys trail running, surfing, and spending time outside with her husband.




Reproductive Rights of Incarcerated Women

The recent confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court raises concern about the future of reproductive health, particularly access to abortion and affordable contraception. Although his impact on reproductive rights is to be determined, those who will be disproportionately impacted by further compromise of reproductive rights will always be the most vulnerable women among us. This includes the uninsured, poor, and incarcerated.

Ugly

The baby’s hat is bright orange, knit with vertical ribbing to mimic a pumpkin’s ridges, and topped with a tiny green stem. The cheeks below it bulge in perfect crescents. I turn to the mother to ask if she made the hat herself. Her eyes don’t leave the muted cartoons bouncing across the television screen as she mumbles, “The nurse or someone gave it to her.”

24 Weeks

Back in that operating room, I am dutifully holding onto the basin just beyond and under the table edge. What I see is what the mother would never wish to see; being a part of her care, we accept that burden for her, and in a much different way that she ever could from her intimate connection with it. It is our service to her, to alleviate that pain, to be an open support to her health and well-being. It is an acceptable cost, but a cost all the same.

Klimt, Modernism, and Art’s Relationship with Medicine

In 1894, the State Ministry of Culture, Religion, and Education in Vienna commissioned three paintings for the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna to celebrate the institutions accomplishments of Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence. When the artist who painted these works chose to make a bold stylistic statement, all three were heavily criticized for their eroticism, obscenity, and “ugliness.”

Reproductive Justice: Physician Voices Can Make a Difference

As I contemplate the future of our country, the future of medicine and the future of reproductive health and justice, I am truly frightened of what is to come. Since our president appears to base his desires on what makes him popular, I fear that he will gut Planned Parenthood, turn over Roe v Wade, and make it even more difficult for women to afford and access care, all in the name of ego.

Veronica Alvarez, MD, MSEd Veronica Alvarez, MD, MSEd (1 Posts)

Resident Physician Contributing Writer

Emory School of Medicine


Veronica Alvarez is a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She is originally from Miami, FL and is proud of her Cuban and Latin roots.