Amid an election driven in large part by concerns about health care, First Opinion published a fascinating look at the 2024 electoral map and the growing mortality divide. “In 2024, the mortality rate, adjusted for differences in age composition, was 19.2% higher in states that voted for Donald Trump than in states that voted for Kamala Harris,” Brandon Yan, Maddie Feldmeier, and Renee Y. Hsia write. I normally nix any chart a writer wants to include — typically they don’t actually clarify tings—but the one in this piece is a must-see.

Also: This week, amid the election chaos, First Opinion published some lovely first-person pieces you might have missed. An ophthalmologist shares how meditation transformed the way he thinks about his most traumatic cases. A woman with multiple sclerosis moves to Malta for the free health care — but really misses her American patient portal. And a neurosurgeon reflects on the relationship between pain and suffering — and what that has to do with assisted suicide.

P.S. Thanks to all of you who sent me ideas and proposals for the upcoming First Opinion package on reinventing medical school. If I haven’t gotten back to you yet, I hope to this week!

Recommendation of the week: As a huge Emily St. John Mandel fan, I had high hopes for her newest novel, “Exit Party.” Set (at first) amid the fracturing of the United States, it delves into doppelgangers, physics, and what might have been. It took me a minute to get really into it, but in the end, I loved it. Have you read it? I want to hear what you thought!