Rizwana Khan is a pulmonary and critical care physician and can be reached at DrKhanMDOnCall.

Reflections of a critical care doctor after 2 years of COVID

Physician
February 11, 2022

COVID has been with us for two years. I have written my reflection during the pandemic periodically to vent, share and disseminate information. But I have felt at a loss for words in the last few months. I am exhausted, emotionally drained and bereft.

Critical care docs are resilient. We train to serve the sickest patients. We are used to making decisions in split seconds. Lives depend on us, and we …

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Reflections of a critical care doctor after 2 years of COVID

The danger persists. The contagion has won.

Conditions
August 21, 2021

A subtle vibration permeates the still air, a thumping that melds with our heartbeat. The drumbeat becomes constant, louder, deafening, echoing the chaos around us.

The sounds initially emanate from a far-off land. There is news of a contagion. There are images of bodies in hospital wards, health care workers in full-body protective suits. Some health care workers release clandestine videos on social media. Are they whistleblowers? They disappear from their …

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The danger persists. The contagion has won.

How a physician breaks bad news is just as important as the bad news itself

Conditions
February 7, 2021

Medicine is an art. One can learn about symptoms, diagnostics, and treatment plans for various diseases, from textbooks and journal articles. It is harder to study empathy, compassion, and human connection from conventional academic resources. The art of medicine is discovered, acquired, and absorbed on the job by interacting and connecting with patients and their families, by partnering with them in their journey through sickness to health or even the …

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How a physician breaks bad news is just as important as the bad news itself

Why this critical care doctor got the COVID-19 vaccine

Conditions
January 15, 2021

December is typically busy in the ICU. Flu and respiratory viral pneumonia cases start trickling into the ICU, interspersed with cardiac arrests, strokes, pulmonary emboli, septic shock, and COPD exacerbations. The ICU census starts creeping up.

December 2020 has been unique and challenging. There were seemingly endless days of patients coming to the ICU, only to die. People with COVID-19 and the usual ICU ailments seemed sicker than usual. Patients have …

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Why this critical care doctor got the COVID-19 vaccine

I am a critical care physician. These are the patients in the ICU.

Conditions
November 27, 2020

I am a critical care physician. I am at the frontlines of this pandemic, in a state of “war” against an unseen enemy that has brought unimaginable destruction in its path.

I arrive at work at 7 a.m. for my shift. I am in a state of hypervigilance. It is a chilly fall day, but in my hospital issue scrubs, I feel warm. I am ready for what is to come.

I …

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I am a critical care physician. These are the patients in the ICU.

Lung cancer screening explained by a pulmonologist

Conditions
October 25, 2020

Lung cancer screening is a process that is used to detect the presence of lung cancer in otherwise healthy people at high risk for cancer. In 2020, 229,000 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer, and 136,000 people will die from the disease, making it the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.

Data show that screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) reduces the risk of dying …

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Lung cancer screening explained by a pulmonologist

When physicians get sick: We are just as human as the patients we treat

Physician
August 28, 2020

Physicians are natural caregivers. We are in-tune with the needs of our patients, often to the detriment of our own health. It is a rite of passage during medical school to stand in for lengthy eight to ten-hour surgeries, as retractor holders, keeping the surgical field clear for the surgeon. The thrill of being part of surgery makes us forget our own needs; the bleary-eyed fatigue of having woken up …

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When physicians get sick: We are just as human as the patients we treat

A physician’s convoluted FMLA journey

Physician
July 29, 2020

I have dealt with unstable knees since childhood. In December 2019, I noticed knee swelling, which would improve with rest. This flare-up was not unusual, except that the swelling and pain gradually became a routine fixture in my life. This was still pre-COVID, but winter is busy in the ICU, so I ignored my own health. We went on a trip to the beach in February, and I came back …

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A physician’s convoluted FMLA journey