COVID-19 pandemic

1,704 articles · Since 2020

Articles, page 18

COVID vaccines’ tragic dance [PODCAST]

July 1, 2021Jul 1, 2021

"As a species, we have been an abject failure in dealing with a worldwide crisis. We politicize things for money, political reasons and some kind of weird power, even when it kills us in the process. We already have a…

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“As a species, we have been an abject failure in dealing with a worldwide crisis. We politicize things for money, political reasons and some kind of weird power, even when it kills us in the process. We already have a World Health Organization (WHO). Would it be so difficult to staff it …

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COVID vaccines’ tragic dance [PODCAST]

Physician voices

You need a break from the front lines of health care

Dawn Sears, MD

June 30, 2021Jun 30, 2021

The current era of health care delivery has been aptly compared with going to war against an invisible enemy that can attack anywhere, at any time and with novel means. This invisible enemy was attacking the civilians as well as…

The current era of health care delivery has been aptly compared with going to war against an invisible enemy that can attack anywhere, at any time and with novel means.

This invisible enemy was attacking the civilians as well as the “front line” with vigor.

We have attempted to learn on the fly and use our intelligence to develop a defensive strategy against the enemy’s ever-changing tactics and learn from prior battlefronts.

This …

Physician voices

A physician’s COVID experience in spoken story

Swapna Deshpande, MD

June 28, 2021Jun 28, 2021

The following is a transcription of Dr. Deshpande's spoken story. What is wrong with me? I’ve been doing this for 25 years. Why am I so scared now? That’s what I’m thinking as I drive to the hospital during the…

The following is a transcription of Dr. Deshpande’s spoken story.

What is wrong with me? I’ve been doing this for 25 years. Why am I so scared now? That’s what I’m thinking as I drive to the hospital during the early part of the pandemic, March, April 2020. I am at the hospital’s parking garage, and there is a BIG sign: “Health care heroes work here!”

…

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Conditions and diseases

Being the angel of death during a pandemic

Emily D'Amelio, RN

June 24, 2021Jun 24, 20214

I was looking forward to March 2020. My boyfriend and I had a long-awaited vacation to Aruba we were looking forward to. Everything is packed, plans are finalized, and the world shuts down three days before our trip. Frustrated, we refuse to believe that a “virus” is worthy of shutting the world down. “What’s the difference between this and anything else?” “Who cares? It’s just a virus?!” “I am still …

Physician voices

Human connections, cancer care, and COVID-19 restrictions

Nghia Pham, MD

June 20, 2021Jun 20, 2021

The desire for human connection is so irrevocably and putatively a tenet of the human condition. The relationships we form with one another are quintessential in adding value to our lives and in fostering loving bonds. And the way we express this connection with one another could be through a multitude of means, whether it is quality time or physical touch.

Moreover, to form human connections is what elevates the work …

Physician voices

Our niche world demands a new approach to health

Geeta Nayyar, MD, MBA & Vik Bakhru, MD, MBA

June 20, 2021Jun 20, 2021

When Elvis Presley rolled up his sleeve and received the polio vaccine backstage at The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956, most Americans knew about it. At the time, the only stars hotter than rock ‘n’ roll itself were Presley, the genre’s de facto king, and Sullivan, the host who brought its biggest headliners to the American people.

By 1957, polio incidence dropped by 85 to 90 percent because …

Physician voices

COVID 1 year later: thoughts from a small-town physician

Summer Alexander Merritt, MD

June 20, 2021Jun 20, 2021

This time last year, many of us were bewildered that our country and the world had been halted by a newly declared pandemic caused by a novel virus. Reports from physician colleagues on both coasts terrified me. Fast forward to June 2021, and 272 people in Midland have died. Two hundred and seventy-two mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, friends, patients, co-workers, partners, spouses are gone.

Daily I think …

Health policy

COVID-19 proved that diverse voices make health care better

Naprisha Taylor

June 16, 2021Jun 16, 2021

I’ve been reflecting on how the scientific world came together over the past 15-months to take on a viral pandemic. Despite unprecedented circumstances, the field achieved one of the most incredible feats of modern medicine, and for once, we achieved…

The record-speed development of COVID-19 vaccines was achieved in large part because diverse perspectives came together across countries and across disciplines to scale their collective impact.

Consider that two years …

Conditions and diseases

We need to re-examine quality-of-life metrics in nursing homes

Carol Podgorski, PhD

June 7, 2021Jun 7, 2021

One June afternoon, Susan came in from gardening to find that her husband, John, was missing. After a frantic scan around their wooded lot, she called 911 and soon had sheriffs, firefighters, and a state police helicopter scouring nearby parklands…

One June afternoon, Susan came in from gardening to find that her husband, John, was missing.

After a frantic scan around their wooded lot, she called 911 and soon had sheriffs, firefighters, and a state police helicopter scouring nearby parklands in pursuit of this 71-year-old man. Seventeen long, terrifying hours later, a deputy found John in the park, safe and seemingly unfazed by his whereabouts.

This was not the first time he …

The Podcast by KevinMD

Artificial intelligence, COVID-19, and the future of pandemics [PODCAST]

The Doctors Company & The Podcast by KevinMD

June 6, 2021Jun 6, 2021

"Machine learning is only as good as the information provided to train the machine. Models trained on partial datasets can skew toward demographics that often turned up in the data—for example, Caucasians or men over 60. There is concern that…

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“Machine learning is only as good as the information provided to train the machine. Models trained on partial datasets can skew toward demographics that often turned up in the data—for example, Caucasians or men over 60. There is concern that “analyses based on faulty or biased algorithms could exacerbate existing racial …

Conditions and diseases

Lessons from COVID-19 about the obesity epidemic

Carol Petke, APRN

June 4, 2021Jun 4, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted our ineffective approach to the obesity epidemic in the United States. I believe COVID-19 would have claimed fewer lives if we had healthier patients and less obesity. According to the CDC, "obesity may triple the…

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted our ineffective approach to the obesity epidemic in the United States.

I believe COVID-19 would have claimed fewer lives if we had healthier patients and less obesity. According to the CDC, “obesity may triple the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection.” Additionally, they note that obesity can make intubation and ventilation more difficult for severely ill patients. While the attention currently is focused on COVID-19 …

The Podcast by KevinMD

365 shows later: The Podcast by KevinMD’s most popular episodes

The Podcast by KevinMD

June 1, 2021Jun 1, 2021

It's been such an inspiring journey for The Podcast by KevinMD! I started the show one year ago, on June 1, 2020. I didn't know what to expect, who would want to be on the show, or who would listen.…

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It’s been such an inspiring journey for The Podcast by KevinMD! I started the show one year ago, on June 1, 2020. I didn’t know what to expect, who would want to be on the show, or who would listen. Heck, I didn’t know the first thing in starting a podcast.

I did know one thing: Thousands intersect with our health care …

Conditions and diseases

Mitigating risks from care during COVID-19

Richard E. Anderson, MD & The Doctors Company

May 29, 2021May 29, 2021

In evaluating delayed or missed health care that has occurred during the pandemic, it is tempting to speak of “COVID care” vs. “non-COVID care.” However, the pandemic has disrupted health care so thoroughly that in some sense, COVID-19 has affected…

The effect on care has been stunning in magnitude. By mid-2020, more than 40 percent of U.S. adults had delayed medical care or avoided …

Conditions and diseases

Strategies for managing post-pandemic in-person panic

Deborah Edberg, MD & Mary R. Talen, PhD

May 27, 2021May 27, 20212

So you've been vaccinated, and some of your close friends have been vaccinated, the weather is getting warmer, and you are beginning to feel like it might be safe to see a few folks in an outdoor, controlled setting. In-person.…

So you’ve been vaccinated, and some of your close friends have been vaccinated, the weather is getting warmer, and you are beginning to feel like it might be safe to see a few folks in an outdoor, controlled setting. In-person. For the first time in a year. After the initial relief and post-vaccine euphoria begin to fade, a new sensation begins to emerge. Let’s call it “post-pandemic in-person panic” disorder.

At …

Physician voices

Promoting COVID-19 vaccination

Jonathan H. Smith, MD

May 26, 2021May 26, 2021

Former President Trump ushered in a new era of distrust in evidence, science, and medicine, culminating in a “coronavirus catastrophe,” as editorialized by Nature. Medical mistrust, of course, is not a new concept; patients navigate bias from the health care system daily, and in the context of historical legacies of abuse and unethical practices, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Accordingly, the resulting adverse impacts on health …

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Promoting COVID-19 vaccination

The Podcast by KevinMD

Social connectedness, volunteerism, and the remedy for COVID fatigue [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

May 25, 2021May 25, 2021

"Social connectedness is the remedy to the COVID fatigue that is running rampant in the United States. We need to stay connected to those we love. At the same time, we must also recognize that life is going on in…

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“Social connectedness is the remedy to the COVID fatigue that is running rampant in the United States. We need to stay connected to those we love. At the same time, we must also recognize that life is going on in the age of COVID-19, which means what happened to Mariana is …

Physician voices

Stop dog-whistling the CDC

Giannina L. Garces-Ambrossi Muncey, MD

May 23, 2021May 23, 2021

A beautiful woman, all mocha skin and glimmering eyeshadow, turned to me in Whole Foods and whispered: “I like your style.” I was alternately baffled and proud: Take that, lifetime of scrubs! Mama’s still got it. Then I looked down…

A beautiful woman, all mocha skin and glimmering eyeshadow, turned to me in Whole Foods and whispered: “I like your style.”

I was alternately baffled and proud: Take that, lifetime of scrubs! Mama’s still got it. Then I looked down at myself and saw I was wearing jeans with Paw Patrol stickers on them.

She pointed one perfectly manicured finger to her face: we were indoors, yet I saw her French red …

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Stop dog-whistling the CDC

Conditions and diseases

My most dangerous COVID intubation

Nabil Othman, MD

May 23, 2021May 23, 2021

As the pandemic grew in Southern California, intubating COVID patients became increasingly dangerous. Initially, any patient with signs of respiratory distress was intubated, then sent to the ICU immediately. My physician colleagues and I all thought we were doing the…

Instead of immediate intubation, we tried placing patients on high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), a special nasal oxygen device that …

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My most dangerous COVID intubation

Conditions and diseases

As we emerge from COVID, give space and grace to those around you

Anthony Fleg, MD

May 21, 2021May 21, 2021

I am guessing you have felt it. Maybe you have participated or contributed to it. Exuberant hope Unmasked optimism Guiltless travel After a year of living in fear and isolation, bound and gagged, there is a loosening of the bonds.…

I am guessing you have felt it.

Maybe you have participated or contributed to it.

Exuberant hope

Unmasked optimism

Guiltless travel

After a year of living in fear and isolation, bound and gagged, there is a loosening of the bonds. We struggle and wriggle to get free.

Relaxed restrictions, a return of sports, and indoor dining. Whispers of live music and public swimming pools about to return.

All of it like a fresh breeze on a summer …

Conditions and diseases

How creative solutions to inequitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution can save lives now

Charles Sanky, MD, MPH & Usnish Majumdar, MD

May 18, 2021May 18, 2021

The current COVID-19 vaccines have been developed with unprecedented efficiency and speed. Years of research, development, production, and regulatory approvals have been compressed into months. But accelerating the science is only half the puzzle. If we want to save lives…

As newly minted (and gratefully vaccinated) physicians who have had the privilege of contributing

…

COVID-19 pandemic

Articles, page 18

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