News
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Help Expand Access to Specialty Care in Montgomery County
Farhana Arastu, MPP Programs and Public Policy Director, MCMS Thousands of Montgomery County residents face barriers to accessing specialty care due to limited insurance coverage, financial challenges, or lack of access to specialists. Physicians can make a meaningful difference by participating in one of several programs designed to connect patients with needed specialty services. Project…
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Environmental and Public Health Update: Navigating PFAS, Global Pathogens, and Local Action
Kisha N. Davis, MD, MPH, FAAFP Health Officer, Montgomery County, Maryland First, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Medical Society for honoring me with the Public Health Advocacy Award at the annual meeting. This recognition truly reflects our shared commitment to safeguarding the health of all Montgomery County residents, and I am…
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Maryland’s Chronic Disease Benchmarks: Where the Gaps Are and What Physicians Can Do
Maryland’s 2026 State Health Improvement Plan sets specific, measurable targets for five priority health areas through 2029. The chronic disease section is the most directly relevant to day-to-day clinical practice, and the numbers reveal some significant gaps worth knowing. Cancer Screening Is Lagging Only 49.3% of Maryland adults ages 45-75 have received a recommended colorectal…
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Women in Medicine Interest Survey
MCMS is planning ahead for our Women in Medicine programming, and before we lock anything in, we want to hear from you. The Women in Medicine Interest Survey asks about the real challenges you’re navigating as a woman physician in Montgomery County, and which kinds of support and programming would be worth your limited time.…
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June is Pride Month: LGBTQ+ Healthcare Resources
LGBTQ+ Health Resources in Montgomery County: A Physician’s Guide Montgomery County has more LGBTQ+ residents per capita than most Maryland jurisdictions, but a 2024 report from the Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO) found the County functions as a healthcare “desert” for transgender patients. Only three clinics offer any gender-affirming services, and none specializes exclusively in…
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Community Starts with an Invitation
James Bryant, MCMS Executive Director One of my favorite stories about building community comes from a pathologist in California who enjoyed birdwatching. Looking for a way to connect with others who shared his interest, he posted a notice on his state pathology society’s calendar inviting anyone interested to join him for a monthly birdwatching outing. The first…
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Polycystic ovary syndrome is more than ovarian
Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, M.D. Montgomery Fertility Center The name polycystic ovary syndrome may have unintentionally narrowed how medicine understood one of the most common endocrine disorders affecting women. The ovaries were visible. The deeper physiology was not. For decades, the syndrome was largely framed around irregular ovulation, infertility, excess androgen symptoms, and the characteristic “string of…
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Estrogen-Dopamine Connection in ADHD
Nadia Sirdar, M.D., MPH Bethesda Modern Primary Care May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I want to share something that rarely gets identified correctly in a standard care visit: ADHD that unmasks during perimenopause. Estrogen directly supports dopamine activity in the brain. As estrogen drops during perimenopause, the brain that has been quietly managing ADHD…
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The View From The Exam Room
Harita Raja, M.D. Bethesda Women’s Mental Health In my practice, I’m seeing more women who don’t “look” like they’re struggling because by most external measures, they’re not. They’re working efficiently, caregiving with a smile, and showing up for their children. Underneath that, though, there’s a steady hum of anxiety, poor sleep, irritability and/or physical symptoms that…
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Hantavirus and the Andes Virus Outbreak
What Maryland Physicians Need to Know An active multi-country outbreak of Andes virus, the only hantavirus strain capable of person-to-person transmission, has prompted the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) to begin monitoring two state residents following potential exposure. While confirmed cases remain far from Maryland and the risk to patients is considered very low, the…
