Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
@esthermjohnston.bsky.social
Family Doctor & Asst Professor @ the University of Minnesota. Director of the Global Engagement Network for Primary Health Care. Passionate about realizing stronger, more equitable health systems. Views my own. She/they.
Pinned
Cynthia Haq, MD | Esther M. Johnston, MD, MPH
journals.stfm.org
Deeply proud to have served as a guest editor of this special global issue of Family Medicine; & grateful to my colleagues who contributed their writing & research, & served as peer reviewers. May we never stop engaging as a global community in our shared learning.
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Sharing the recording of our Grand Rounds presentation, for those who were unable to join us live: "From Global Health to Globalism - Evaluating Approaches to Global Engagement"
with @shailey.bsky.social
mediaspace.umn.edu/media/t/1_ds...
#medsky #PublicHealth #AcademicSky
with @shailey.bsky.social
mediaspace.umn.edu/media/t/1_ds...
#medsky #PublicHealth #AcademicSky
2025-11-12 Family Medicine and Community Health Grand Rounds - University of Minnesota - Kaltura MediaSpace
mediaspace.umn.edu
November 13, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Sharing the recording of our Grand Rounds presentation, for those who were unable to join us live: "From Global Health to Globalism - Evaluating Approaches to Global Engagement"
with @shailey.bsky.social
mediaspace.umn.edu/media/t/1_ds...
#medsky #PublicHealth #AcademicSky
with @shailey.bsky.social
mediaspace.umn.edu/media/t/1_ds...
#medsky #PublicHealth #AcademicSky
An excellent summary of current US political discourse: a game of rock paper scissors from hell in which some approaches temporarily triumph, & meaning too often loses.
American politics has devolved into shitposting and aura farming / A theory of political speech under the second Trump presidency
American politics has devolved into shitposting and aura farming / A theory of political speech under the second Trump presidency
October 26, 2025 at 9:23 AM
An excellent summary of current US political discourse: a game of rock paper scissors from hell in which some approaches temporarily triumph, & meaning too often loses.
American politics has devolved into shitposting and aura farming / A theory of political speech under the second Trump presidency
American politics has devolved into shitposting and aura farming / A theory of political speech under the second Trump presidency
An incredible public health success story.
Peanut allergies in children ages 0-3 declined 27.2% after a 2015 study resulted in guidance recommending the introduction of peanut products in infancy among children. More from Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez in the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/w...
October 21, 2025 at 1:21 PM
An incredible public health success story.
Proud of my colleague Katie Loth for writing and sharing this important essay - when we stop measuring food insecurity, that doesn't make the problem go away.
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
Shutting down food insecurity report only serves to hide hunger
The USDA’s cancellation of its annual food insecurity report leaves families — and especially children — at risk of being overlooked.
www.minnpost.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Proud of my colleague Katie Loth for writing and sharing this important essay - when we stop measuring food insecurity, that doesn't make the problem go away.
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
"we spent more than 100 years working at the C.D.C...We served under multiple Republican and Democratic administrations...we did not always agree with our leaders, but they never gave us reason to doubt that they would rely on data-driven insights for our protection."
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
www.nytimes.com
September 3, 2025 at 5:17 PM
"we spent more than 100 years working at the C.D.C...We served under multiple Republican and Democratic administrations...we did not always agree with our leaders, but they never gave us reason to doubt that they would rely on data-driven insights for our protection."
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
RFK Jr. has now officially stated that he will dismantle the United States Preventive ServicesTask Force (USPSTF).
This is an independent body of expert scientists who volunteer their time to review data and provide guidance to Americans on important things like cancer screenings.
This is an independent body of expert scientists who volunteer their time to review data and provide guidance to Americans on important things like cancer screenings.
Exclusive | RFK Jr. to Oust Advisory Panel on Cancer Screenings, HIV Prevention Drugs
The task force determines which preventive services insurers must cover at no cost to patients.
www.wsj.com
July 25, 2025 at 9:39 PM
RFK Jr. has now officially stated that he will dismantle the United States Preventive ServicesTask Force (USPSTF).
This is an independent body of expert scientists who volunteer their time to review data and provide guidance to Americans on important things like cancer screenings.
This is an independent body of expert scientists who volunteer their time to review data and provide guidance to Americans on important things like cancer screenings.
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
Heard from #AHRQ that the entire grants staff has been let go! They are unable to issue funds for grants already funded, let alone fund new grants. This is outrageous and will make Americans poorer and sicker. Why? A brief thread about just some recent AHRQ-funded research: #MedSky #HealthPolicy
July 23, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Heard from #AHRQ that the entire grants staff has been let go! They are unable to issue funds for grants already funded, let alone fund new grants. This is outrageous and will make Americans poorer and sicker. Why? A brief thread about just some recent AHRQ-funded research: #MedSky #HealthPolicy
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
"In these first few months after arrival, I have become, in many ways, an intern again."
Esther Johnston, MD, MPH (@esthermjohnston.bsky.social) reflects on the challenges and opportunities that come with professional change.
"Everything Old Is New Again": journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Esther Johnston, MD, MPH (@esthermjohnston.bsky.social) reflects on the challenges and opportunities that come with professional change.
"Everything Old Is New Again": journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
July 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM
"In these first few months after arrival, I have become, in many ways, an intern again."
Esther Johnston, MD, MPH (@esthermjohnston.bsky.social) reflects on the challenges and opportunities that come with professional change.
"Everything Old Is New Again": journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Esther Johnston, MD, MPH (@esthermjohnston.bsky.social) reflects on the challenges and opportunities that come with professional change.
"Everything Old Is New Again": journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
A tribute to colleagues who have been so supportive as I learned the ropes in a new place this year, & to all the learners who juggle the cognitive load of trying to master new systems while bringing their best selves to their patients encounters, each & every day:
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Everything Old Is New Again
journals.stfm.org
July 17, 2025 at 10:19 PM
A tribute to colleagues who have been so supportive as I learned the ropes in a new place this year, & to all the learners who juggle the cognitive load of trying to master new systems while bringing their best selves to their patients encounters, each & every day:
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
The call for abstracts is now open for the North America Conference to End Race Based Medicine, which will be FREE to attend and held in Detroit October 17-18, 2025. Submissions are encouraged from students, residents, fellows and faculty from all disciplines.
#academicsky #medsky
bit.ly/NACERM2025
#academicsky #medsky
bit.ly/NACERM2025
July 11, 2025 at 12:36 AM
The call for abstracts is now open for the North America Conference to End Race Based Medicine, which will be FREE to attend and held in Detroit October 17-18, 2025. Submissions are encouraged from students, residents, fellows and faculty from all disciplines.
#academicsky #medsky
bit.ly/NACERM2025
#academicsky #medsky
bit.ly/NACERM2025
Concerning on so many levels: that peer reviewers are farming out a critical role in ensuring academic integrity to AI (recognizing the broken system of academic publishing that => overloaded peer reviewers) & that this shortcut is so easily subverted. #Academicsky
asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...
asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...
'Positive review only': Researchers hide AI prompts in papers
Instructions in preprints from 14 universities highlight controversy on AI in peer review
asia.nikkei.com
July 6, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Concerning on so many levels: that peer reviewers are farming out a critical role in ensuring academic integrity to AI (recognizing the broken system of academic publishing that => overloaded peer reviewers) & that this shortcut is so easily subverted. #Academicsky
asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...
asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...
An excellent article by Martin Msukwa and Isaac Ntwiga of @seedglobalhealth.bsky.social summarizing some of the key barriers to recruitment and retention of health care workers in countries with HCW shortages, and needed policy solutions.
www.europesays.com/2147801/
www.europesays.com/2147801/
Time To Rethink Global Health Recruitment As Africa’s Health Workers Deserve Better - EUROPE SAYS
When Dr Biira* qualified as doctor in Uganda, she was hopeful about her future. Instead, she faced a common barrier: no job. Despite a huge shortage of
www.europesays.com
June 10, 2025 at 1:25 AM
An excellent article by Martin Msukwa and Isaac Ntwiga of @seedglobalhealth.bsky.social summarizing some of the key barriers to recruitment and retention of health care workers in countries with HCW shortages, and needed policy solutions.
www.europesays.com/2147801/
www.europesays.com/2147801/
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
The MAHA report, promoted by RFK Jr. as “gold-standard science,” is riddled with bogus citations:
⭐️ 7 studies don’t exist — one author: “The paper cited is not a real paper.”
⭐️ Key conclusions misquoted
⭐️ One study exists only in the report
⭐️ Dozens more have broken links #BlueSky #Medasky #SciSky
⭐️ 7 studies don’t exist — one author: “The paper cited is not a real paper.”
⭐️ Key conclusions misquoted
⭐️ One study exists only in the report
⭐️ Dozens more have broken links #BlueSky #Medasky #SciSky
t.co
May 29, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
In this editorial, a group of family medicine global health practitioners based in South Africa, India, and the United States collectively reflect on the question, “What should lie at the heart of global health partnerships in family medicine?”
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
May 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
In this editorial, a group of family medicine global health practitioners based in South Africa, India, and the United States collectively reflect on the question, “What should lie at the heart of global health partnerships in family medicine?”
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
May's special global health issue of Family Medicine attracted submissions from around the world, reflecting collaborations and partnerships between family physicians and colleagues.
Read the editorial from Cindy Haq, MD, and Esther Johnston, MD, MPH: journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Read the editorial from Cindy Haq, MD, and Esther Johnston, MD, MPH: journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
May 13, 2025 at 8:29 PM
May's special global health issue of Family Medicine attracted submissions from around the world, reflecting collaborations and partnerships between family physicians and colleagues.
Read the editorial from Cindy Haq, MD, and Esther Johnston, MD, MPH: journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Read the editorial from Cindy Haq, MD, and Esther Johnston, MD, MPH: journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
Interest in training opportunities and ethical engagement in global health among medical trainees continues to increase. Preparation activities and formal curriculum for trainees traveling for international rotations vary widely across programs: journals.stfm.org/primer/2025/...
May 13, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Interest in training opportunities and ethical engagement in global health among medical trainees continues to increase. Preparation activities and formal curriculum for trainees traveling for international rotations vary widely across programs: journals.stfm.org/primer/2025/...
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
9/ This isn't about whether you need a booster. It’s about how vaccine decisions are made—and who gets to make them. Americans deserve public health policy grounded in evidence, transparency, and debate—not declarations from two contrarians with an agenda.
May 21, 2025 at 2:10 PM
9/ This isn't about whether you need a booster. It’s about how vaccine decisions are made—and who gets to make them. Americans deserve public health policy grounded in evidence, transparency, and debate—not declarations from two contrarians with an agenda.
I'm thankful that my congregation signed on as a whole to Jews for Food Aid for Gaza. If you're Jewish, please consider signing and pass it on.
"If there is a hungry person one must feed them!"
—Shulchan Aruch
www.foodaidforgaza.org
"If there is a hungry person one must feed them!"
—Shulchan Aruch
www.foodaidforgaza.org
Jews for Food Aid for Gaza
Jewish people support food aid for families in Gaza and an immediate end to the Israeli government’s food aid blockade. #JewsForFoodAidForPeopleInGaza
www.foodaidforgaza.org
May 20, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
RFK Jr. celebrated on Sunday by taking shirtless selfies and swimming in an E. coli-ridden, sewage-infested creek where swimming, notably, has been banned by the National Park Service, thanks to the whole...poop water issue.
RFK Jr. Took His Grandkids for a Dip in a Sewage-Contaminated Creek For Mother’s Day
The National Park Service bans swimming in Rock Creek due to “high levels of bacteria.”
www.vanityfair.com
May 12, 2025 at 6:50 PM
RFK Jr. celebrated on Sunday by taking shirtless selfies and swimming in an E. coli-ridden, sewage-infested creek where swimming, notably, has been banned by the National Park Service, thanks to the whole...poop water issue.
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.
May 4, 2025 at 6:21 AM
I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.
Deeply proud to have served as a guest editor of this special global issue of Family Medicine; & grateful to my colleagues who contributed their writing & research, & served as peer reviewers. May we never stop engaging as a global community in our shared learning.
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Cynthia Haq, MD | Esther M. Johnston, MD, MPH
journals.stfm.org
May 1, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Deeply proud to have served as a guest editor of this special global issue of Family Medicine; & grateful to my colleagues who contributed their writing & research, & served as peer reviewers. May we never stop engaging as a global community in our shared learning.
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
journals.stfm.org/familymedici...
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
“If a pact is formed, the universities shall “commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund”. The fund will be in turn used to provide “immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement.”
#defendhighered
#defendhighered
US universities’ faculty unite to defend academic freedom after Trump’s attacks
Indiana University leads the push for a pact among 18 institutions as Donald Trump targets diversity
www.theguardian.com
April 17, 2025 at 1:17 AM
“If a pact is formed, the universities shall “commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund”. The fund will be in turn used to provide “immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement.”
#defendhighered
#defendhighered
Reposted by Esther M Johnston, MD MPH FAAFP
Re-introducing ourselves: IHJM was born out of a desire to facilitate national movements, to re-imagine a new medicine that ends racism in clinical algorithms and builds on the work of advocates before us. We envision an interdisciplinary hub - a community, research epicenter, and dialogue space.
April 9, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Re-introducing ourselves: IHJM was born out of a desire to facilitate national movements, to re-imagine a new medicine that ends racism in clinical algorithms and builds on the work of advocates before us. We envision an interdisciplinary hub - a community, research epicenter, and dialogue space.
"When I finished my PhD in Immunology and Microbiology I started working at CDC NIOSH in Morgantown...to understand diseases that were being seen in coal miners...The type of research that we were doing is not being done anywhere else in the world. And now it’s not being done at all."
bit.ly/3YioisS
bit.ly/3YioisS
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
April 4, 2025 at 8:00 PM
"When I finished my PhD in Immunology and Microbiology I started working at CDC NIOSH in Morgantown...to understand diseases that were being seen in coal miners...The type of research that we were doing is not being done anywhere else in the world. And now it’s not being done at all."
bit.ly/3YioisS
bit.ly/3YioisS