Targeting the Roots of the American Criminal Justice System and Its Modern-Day Manifestations Through the Historical Marginalization of Black Americans

Following the murder of George Floyd in late May of 2020 came a summer of heightened emotions and loud utterances of beliefs regarding police behavior and systemic racism. For many white Americans, this was a catalyst for deep self-inventories, personal growth, and the unlearning of dangerous prejudices and misconceptions. For Black Americans, however, this was simply another expression of normalized deadly behavior against their communities. The recent demands for transforming our legal system shed light on the malevolent origins of American policing. When identifying the unjust roots of the American legal system, modern-day manifestations of racially motivated practices, attitudes, and beliefs cannot be ignored. By overlooking the roadblocks to reforming this system, the same ineffective practices are implemented, thereby wasting precious time and resources. Intense and meticulous analysis on the origins of policing further illustrate the historical marginalization of Black Americans and their depravity of justice at the hands of local and state governments. The skewed perception of justice provided by our current legal system will never be truly transformed to benefit all facets of society until its sinister roots are adequately confronted and alleviated. These methods of transformation use reform as an apparatus in achieving a socially, politically, and economically equitable society, not as an end-all solution

The value of the pediatric urgent care in pediatric resident education

Introduction: Pediatric urgent care (UC) is a growing field and may provide unique learning opportunities for pediatric residents. We aimed to assess whether a UC rotation could be feasible and meaningful and help fill educational gaps. Methods: Within our current X+Y rotational model, we used Kern\u27s six-step approach for curriculum development to create a longitudinal UC educational experience for post-graduate year 2 (PGY 2) pediatric residents. We assessed progress towards achieving our aim by using a mixed-methods approach matched to Kirkpatrick\u27s levels of learning, including program annual evaluations, self-assessed UC competencies and 360 milestone evaluations. Results: Fourteen PGY 2s participated in our yearlong longitudinal rotation without duty hour violations or deviations from well childcare. Thematic analysis revealed concepts of autonomy, procedural access, and intentionality of education. Residents showed statistical improvement in 4/10 milestones and 26/27 self-assessed performance items. Six of 14 residents scored ≥ 4 on all milestones by the end of the year. Discussion: Our curriculum demonstrates a valuable role for the pediatric urgent care in the procedural and clinical education of pediatric residents. Practical implications and assessment tools of such a curriculum may be valuable for others interested in integrating this learning experience into their current educational model

Urbanization may limit impacts of an invasive predator on native mammal diversity

Our understanding of the effects of invasive species on faunal diversity is limited in part because invasions often occur in modified landscapes where other drivers of community diversity can exacerbate or reduce the net impacts of an invader. Furthermore, rigorous assessments of the effects of invasive species on native communities that account for variation in sampling, species-specific detection and occurrence of rare species are lacking. Invasive Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) may be causing declines in medium- to large-sized mammals throughout the Greater Everglades Ecosystem (GEE); however, other factors such as urbanization, habitat changes and drastic alteration in water flow may also be influential in structuring mammal communities. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how mammal communities simultaneously facing invasive predators and intensively human-altered landscapes are influenced by these drivers and their interactions