March 21, 2025 | Vol. 54, Issue 6

The only bilingual Chinese-English Newspaper in New England

Health

Ask Dr. Hang: Psychoeducation Column

(請點這裡閱讀中文版。)  By Hang Ngo, Psy.D. I’ve been having a lot of mixed feelings about the recent shootings targeting Asian women in Atlanta, and as an Asian woman myself, I’ve been feeling scared about going outside by myself. How can I deal with all my feelings, when I don’t even know how to verbalize what these feelings are? Everyone is different in how they react to shocking and tragic events, especially events like hate crimes. The shootings in Atlanta may stir […]

Dr. Zhuo Geng discusses colorectal cancer in Asian Americans

Asian Americans have low screening rates for colorectal cancer

(請點這裡閱讀中文版。) March is Colorectal Cancer (CRC) awareness month. Colorectal cancer affects the colon and rectum, which make up the large intestine located at the latter end of the digestive tract. CRC is the third most common cancer in the United States and the second most common type of cancer within the Asian American community. Sampan interviewed bilingual gastroenterologist Dr. Zhuo Geng, Gastroenterologist, at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center Digestive Disease Center to learn more about the disease. Originally from Shandong province, […]

Amidst new state initiatives, bilingual senior home residents reflect on overcoming vaccine hesitancy

For weeks, a coalition of local organizations and medical professionals have urged Governor Charlie Baker to prioritize the state’s minority and immigrant communities during COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Further slowing vaccination efforts, vaccine hesitancy stemming from historical health inequities persists among eligible seniors in those communities. Two Chinese residents of the Brown Family House, who received the COVID-19 vaccine as part of Phase 1 of Massachusetts’ rollout plan, spoke to Sampan about the experience and why they overcame their vaccine hesitancy. […]

Tufts Medical Center talks COVID-19 vaccine efficacy & roll-out

About a year since the first outbreak of the coronavirus, vaccines countering the virus have finally begun rolling out. However, there has been a lot of confusion and concern about the efficacy of the vaccine and the method in which it is available to the public.  Sampan had the opportunity to interview Dr. Helen Boucher, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center (TMC) to address some of these concerns. Dr. Boucher has been at the frontlines in managing responses […]

Ask Dr. Hang: Psychoeducation Column

By Hang Ngo, Psy.D. My daughter just told me that she is transgender or nonbinary (跨性別) and I am so confused about what this means. My daughter wants me to refer to her as my “child,” instead of my “daughter” and if I talk about her in English, I am supposed to use “they” instead of “she.” Is my daughter abnormal? Let’s start with having you practice referring to your transgender/nonbinary child as your child, instead of your “daughter,” as […]

Harmonious: My Chinese side of the family never spoke about mental illness

By Pablito, a 66-year-old Chinese native of Boston now residing in Honolulu, HI This is his response to the author behind our second story: Dear 33-year-old Chinese woman, How brave of you to express and reveal yourself, particularly in an Asian newspaper. I, too, am a mentally challenged Eurasian man. My diagnosis seems to change quarterly or yearly, and my present psychiatrist doesn’t quite know what to “label” me as. Frankly, I’m not too worried about that. I think I […]

Psychologist Dr. Hang Ngo gives career advice to college student

Ask Dr. Hang: Psychoeducation column

By Hang Ngo, Psy.D. I am about to graduate from college, and I am stressed about finding a job and establishing a career. A longstanding issue I’ve had with my immigrant Asian parents is that they want me to be a doctor or engineer and to make a very good salary for the rest of my life. But the truth is I’m more interested in working for environmental non-profits and in doing art. I am not interested at all in […]

Harmonious: “Why is your skin so thin?”

By Ashley, cis female Content warning: suicidal ideation I never felt legitimate enough to think about therapy until a friend told me that most thirteen-year-olds don’t comfort themselves by dreaming of hurtling themselves out of high rises, and because I never stopped. My depression and suicidal ideation were always things for me to handle myself. It just never seemed bad enough, legitimate enough, when there were people who were actually depressed and taking meds, when there were people who were […]

Ask Dr. Hang: How to Improve Your Work-Life Balance

I work remotely full time and I am taking two classes online towards my Masters degree. I’m really struggling with balancing work and life, in that I find myself facing my laptop for 12+ hours a day, feeling exhausted, and not having much of a life outside of work and classes. How can I improve my work-school-life balance? To ensure the best care for yourself and to improve your focus on the work that you need to do, you need […]

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