I have lived all of my life in Central Appalachia. Long before I had a Doctor of Public Health degree, I knew what health disparities looked like. I just didn’t call them health disparities. I knew what it looked like when someone waited too long to see a doctor because there wasn’t one nearby. I knew people who stretched medications, skipped appointments, drove ridiculous distances for healthcare, or simply went without. I knew families who had to decide which bill got paid that month.
