Advice to Young Males: See Your Healthcare Provider!

When evaluating the relationship that various cohorts of our population have with health care, it is the young adult male who is often unengaged or even disenfranchised. Young women establish a connection during the reproductive years with family physicians, gynecologists, and obstetricians. As a consequence their health care needs are met and their bonds with trusted clinicians can be leveraged to meet any medical challenge throughout their lives.

Young men, on the other hand, often do not interact with the health care system unless they are quite ill and then often access emergency rooms. This approach limits their ability to take advantage of preventive health services and causes them to receive less guided care when sick. Efforts to change this, whether through provisions of the Affordable Care Act or through ongoing community outreach or employer-based programs can have profound effects on population health and cost containment.

Ray Fabius MD
Chief Medical Officer