Meet the Recipients

September 1, 2010
The Lucidicus Project awarded its sixty-sixth self-defense kit to Bill P., a second-year medical student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN. Bill is currently considering a career in interventional radiology, but has not yet decided which specialty he would like to go into and is trying to keep an open mind as he approaches the start of his clinical years. Bill has had a longstanding interest in the promotion of individual liberty. This past summer, he worked on healthcare policy issues at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. He requested our kit because he is extremely skeptical of the types of health reforms that are implicitly promoted by many of his medical school professors. He hopes that the materials in the kit will give him a fresh perspective on how individual rights and liberty can be defended at a time in which the nation could undergo some fairly drastic changes to its healthcare system.

August 23, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is happy to award self-defense kit number sixty-five today to Michael T., a medical student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN. Michael hopes to go into some form of primary care medicine in the future. Currently, he is considering either Internal Medicine or Family Medicine. Since starting med school, he has become interested in finding a different approach to medical administration and politics than the typical left-of-center solutions that are seemingly favored and promoted in medical school. By requesting a kit, he hopes to learn more about how the practice of medicine would evolve under free market conditions. He found out about The Lucidicus Project from a fellow medical student.

August 13, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is very happy to award its sixty-fourth self-defense kit to Ari M., a second-year medical student at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. As an Orthodox Jew, Ari has made it his mission to dispel the wide-spread stereotype of the "Liberal Jew," and indeed people are often surprised to discover that he is politically conservative and a defender of capitalism. He believes that physicians should become more active in educating communities on how to lead healthy and responsible lives, but he views this as part of being a good doctor—not a job for government. Ari believes that physicians can no longer afford to keep quiet in the face of expanding government and socialized medicine; they need to fight for individualism and the principles espoused by the Founding Fathers. He regards the opinions that many "social crusaders" have about healthcare and the government as dangerous, and by requesting a kit, he hopes to be able to formulate his opinions into more eloquent and effective arguments. He found out about The Lucidicus Project through the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). To maintain some privacy, he has chosen not to feature a full photo.

August 10, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its sixty-third self-defense kit to Matthew A., a third-year medical student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, MO. Since beginning medical school, Matthew has been searching for ways to explore how to apply free-market ideas in medicine. During his first-year orientation, he watched as many of his classmates signed up for various clubs and organizations, usually with little knowledge of what the organizations stood for. He recalls that many students received free scrubs or an anatomy text in exchange for signing up with student organizations that support single-payer or government-provided healthcare. Matt says that there are precious few organizations on campus that are making the case for free-market reforms, but with allies like The Lucidicus Project, he feels a little bit less like a lone voice in the wilderness. He heard about the project via the FIRM mailing list; he had been following Peter Schiff's campaign, but had not heard him speak about healthcare until he followed the link to our interview.

August 6, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its sixty-second self-defense kit to Jon C., a fourth-year medical student studying at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN. After he finishes med school, Jon plans to go into Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics (Med-Peds). He has been following the debate on health reform over the past year, and is interested in how conservative and free-market ideals ideals can be applied to medicine, health sciences, and technology. He hopes the materials in the kit will help him explore those questions.

July 29, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its sixty-first self-defense kit to Shayla M., a fourth-year medical student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN. Shayla heard about the project from a classmate who sent out an email that featured the Lucidicus.org website. After reading through the information online about the books and the fundamental ideas that we promote, she decided to inquire about receiving a kit. Shayla writes that she and her classmates are inundated with all kinds of information over the course of their training, but receive very little (if any) exposure to the ideas and issues that The Lucidicus Project discusses. She says that as she is exposed to the everyday practice of medicine, it has become quite apparent that being an effective clinician often demands much more than just medical knowledge.

July 27, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its sixtieth self-defense kit today to Gwyn F., a dermatology resident working in the Bronx, New York. A few months ago, Gwyn read Atlas Shrugged and she judged that it was the best book she had ever read. The characters and ideas expressed in the book verbalized her sentiments so eloquently that she says she could not imagine a more accurate description of where the country is unforunately headed. Gwyn writes that as a soon-to-be-practicing physician, she is terrified of what the new health reforms will mean for herself and her patients. She heard about The Lucidicus Project as a direct result of the kit that we sent to recipient number 55, who displayed the kit at the entrance to the hospital library. Gwyn requested a kit in order to learn more about the moral and economic case for capitalism, and how she can reclaim some of her freedom.

July 20, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its fifty-ninth self-defense kit today to Nicholas K., a student who will be starting at University of Michigan Medical School this coming fall. Nick studied neuroscience as an undergraduate, and plans to go into neurology as a med student. Eventually he would like to launch a career in research and innovation by pursuing a dual MD/PhD. Nick read Atlas Shrugged a few years ago and appreciated it greatly, but he did not fully realize the importance of having a consistent argument for capitalism until he spent time in a medical program at Kings College in London. There he witnessed first-hand the way that patients are treated under England's national health service and the fervor with which political stakeholders defend their illogical and irrational premises. Earlier this summer, Nick completed an internship at the Ayn Rand Institute. He hopes to use this experience and the materials in the self-defense kit to become better at defending the morality of a free-market medical system. He writes that this is desperately needed, especially at a time when so many medical students and academics he has met regard healthcare as a "right."

July 8, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is happy to award its fifty-eighth self-defense kit today to Luis L., a student who will be starting medical school in September with the Class of 2014 at Eastern Virginia Medical School located in Norfolk, VA. His professional goal is to pursue a residency in neurological surgery, and potentially focus his future practice on complex spinal pathology and spinal tumors. Luis would like to learn more about the case for capitalism, and he would like to become actively involved in the fight to maintain—and increase—physicians' economic and political freedom in medicine. He heard about The Lucidicus Project through a friend who is involved with Doctors 4 Patient Care, a group of physicians who are committed to the establishment of a healthcare system that preserves the doctor-patient relationship and patients' freedom of choice.

July 5, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its fifty-seventh self-defense kit today to Diane W., an experienced nurse who has returned to school at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, to receive her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing (BSN) and to work on her graduate degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). Over the years, Diane has seen the role of the nurse change as new "paradigms" come and go in the world of healthcare. Many of the changes she has witnessed have hurt the patient-caregiver relationship. As a student once again, she is amazed at the moral relativism and lack of real-world experience that she encounters in her classmates. By requesting a kit, she hopes to bolster her understanding of the conservative idea of free markets in medicine, and become a better advocate for the rights of providers.

June 24, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is happy to award its fifty-sixth self-defense kit today to a student from the University of Texas at Austin who wishes to remain anonymous. This student will be starting his first year of medical school at an allopathic school this fall. While he was doing interviews for med school this past year, the debate on health reform was in full swing. He realized that his understanding of philosophy and economics—especially in relation to medicine and the free market—was very limited. He realized his classmates and friends knew as little as he did on these issues, and what passed for discussion was merely the repetition of talking points put forth by mainstream media outlets. By requesting a kit, this student hopes to gain a better understanding of how healthcare is connected to economics and the government, and how he can be most effective as a caregiver.

May 28, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is thrilled to award its fifty-fifth self-defense kit today to Deborah B., the Library Director at a large acute care community hospital in the Bronx, New York, and a member of the BQSI/MB (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, and the Bronx) Health Sciences Library Association. As a hospital librarian, one of Deborah's goals is to assemble the best and broadest array of information for the physicians and students who use the onsite library. Health policy and health economics are two very popular areas of interest right now among students. The kit that The Lucidicus Project has awarded her will be put on display for medical students and others to view. At any given time, there are several hundred residents rotating through her hospital. As a result, this one kit is expected to reach many, many students.

February 22, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its fifty-fourth self-defense kit today to Gem M., an honors biology student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Gem is strongly considering in a career in medicine. She has looked into it extensively and even attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on medicine (a 10-day program for students interested in pre-medical studies). She is passionate about the field, but her parents—both of whom are physicians—are discouraging her from going to medical school. In their view, with the politicization and possible government takeover of healthcare, it would be in Gem's best interest to pursue a different career path. Interestingly, it was Gem's mother who suggested that she request a kit from The Lucidicus Project in order to learn how physicians need to defend themselves and their profession. Gem is hoping that the materials in the kit will help her better understand what doctors are up against, and that this new perspective will help her make an informed decision about her career.

February 1, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its fifty-third self-defense kit today to Shea L., a student at the University of Rochester who is studying biomedical engineering and neuroscience. Shea is not going into medicine per se, but he is planning a career in the biotech industry (most likely in the design or manufacturing of medical devices). He also has an interest in studying Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. He is familiar with the basic moral and economic case for capitalism, but would like to explore the topics more thoroughly and with the aid of specific facts pertaining to the medical industry. Shea is considering starting an Objectivist campus club at the University of Rochester, and if successful, plans to use the materials to engage any pre-med or medical students that express an interest.

January 18, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its fifty-second self-defense kit today to Yi Y., a student at the University of Oklahoma who will be applying to medical school this summer. Yi has a strong interest in both medicine and business, and is considering pursuing a dual MD/MBA. He is the Co-Founder and Co-President of the Medical Ethics and Issues Discussion Panel at his school. He is interested in using the books and materials for the club, which includes many students who will be matriculating to medical school in fall of 2010. One of the goals of the club is to facilitate open and educated discussions of issues relating to medicine, including financial issues. Yi believes that the materials in the kit will serve as a helpful springboard for discussion with the other members.

January 14, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its fifty-first self-defense kit today to a medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. This student, who wishes to remain anonymous, has noticed a lot of her classmates espousing the ideas of socialism and the alleged benefits of universal healthcare. Some are self-proclaimed Marxists; others simply repeat what they hear from their colleagues and professors. This student has always held a basic pro-individualist viewpoint, despite the leftist influences surrounding her. Yet her own beliefs are not as firmly rooted as they could be. She heard about The Lucidicus Project through an online forum in which members were discussing Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged, and decided to request a kit. She is very excited and intrigued at reading the materials, and admits that it is also very comforting to see that there are others out there who share her views.

January 2, 2010
The Lucidicus Project is proud to award its fiftieth self-defense kit today to Matt T., a third-year medical student in Canada, and a member of the Canadian military who is looking forward to serving as an army medical officer after he completes medical school. Matt's interest in economics and political philosophy has been piqued by current events, the drive to reshape healthcare in the U.S., and by what he perceives as a growing trend toward government intrusion into the private lives of both U.S. and Canadian citizens. Having started his third-year hospital rotations, his eyes have also been opened to the daily realities of socialized medicine. For example, he is shocked to hear staff physicians discuss wait times of a year or more as perfectly acceptable. One of the things about healthcare in Canada that Matt finds most troubling is that the government prohibits private citizens from spending their own money on care—and that this is looked upon as a good thing because it "equalizes opportunity." Matt hopes that by requesting a kit, he can help to broaden the discussion in Canada to include free-market solutions.

(Interesting note about Matt's photo: it was taken at the ruins of the Aesclepion, the historic hospital in the ancient city of Pergamum, located in modern Turkey. Asclepius is the Greek god of medicine, healing, and rejuvenation.)