"Experiencing Life, Briefly, Inside a Nursing Home," NY Times, August 24 2009. This is a fascinating piece about a med-school program that is pioneering a program where students liven in a nursing home for around 10 days. They become dependents: they are bathed, they are fed, they are wheelchair-bound. This attention to rehabilitation and end-of-life care is so crucial, yet the article notes that most medical schools don't require courses in geriatric medicine, and student interest is low as practicing such medicine is not as lucrative. Reading this, I kept thinking of all kinds of areas--education and medicine come to mind--where those who might work with populations that are in the greatest need often face the greatest number of obstacles, including lower compensation and lower cultural prestige.