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New Doctors in a New Era

Pandemic Offers Unique Education for Medical Residents Starting Their Careers by PAMELA PALONGUE Dr. Akhila Reddy likes practicing family medicine because it provides her with the opportunity to interact with people of all ages and backgrounds, from babies to geriatric patients, with a plethora of medical needs. One thing she couldn’t possibly have foreseen when…
Deep Dive Into the Delta Variant

Lakeland Regional Health’s Dr. Haight Talks About the Latest Threat by TERESA SCHIFFER With new cases of COVID-19 rising throughout Florida, if you have been hesitant to get vaccinated, this could be a good time to commit to that. New cases have spiked in the past month from about 23,000 new cases per week throughout…
Make It OK!

Peace River Center Campaign Aims to Quash Stigma Associated With Mental Illness by TERESA SCHIFFER With one in five people experiencing a mental health issue at some point in their lives, it is vitally important that as a society we remove the stigma associated with mental illness in order to encourage those affected by…

Medical Advice: Your flu prevention to-do list

AS YOU GATHER your “to-do” lists and prepare for the holiday season ahead, the Florida Department of Health in Polk County recommends you add one more important step — get a flu shot! The flu shot is the best way to protect our families and communities against the spread of influenza. When you make it…
Family Health: Flu shots for seniors

HE FLU is nothing to sneeze at. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 200,000 people will be hospitalized this year with the influenza virus, and it has been estimated that 50 to 70 percent of those hospitalized are people age 65 and older.
Word of Mouth: Your dentist is key to early cancer detection

IT SEEMS LIKE you hear about many different kinds of cancers these days, but one that isn’t being talked about enough is oral cancer. Cancer in the mouth and throat are diagnosed in nearly 50,000 Americans a year, and statistics show that only 57 percent of those diagnosed still will be living in five years.