COVID-19

Physicians, nurses, residents, and students writing on KevinMD during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, most of it in real time between March 2020 and 2022: the first weeks and the shortages, the surge, redeployment, schools and masks, the vaccine's arrival and the people who refused it, and what the years did to the people who worked through them. This archive is a primary record of what clinicians wrote as it happened, and more of it was written anonymously than any other subject on the site. For that record organized as a timeline, with the disagreements recorded as physicians made them, see COVID-19: what physicians wrote as it happened. For what physicians said about burnout in those years and since, see Physician burnout: what physicians say, in their own words.

Alone and frightened is the way COVID patients die

Constantine Ioannou, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 9, 2020

I began my career in psychiatry with the desire to work with dying patients. This is an odd way to begin, but I had begun my career with interest in oncology and eventually discovered the field of psycho-oncology. After graduating, the first population I worked with was HIV infected individuals when an HIV diagnosis was a certain death sentence. The work centered on helping the individual accept their impending death …

COVID-19 and the cruel death of my mother

Christine King, CRNA

Conditions and Diseases

December 8, 2020

I am very happy to hear that the CDC decided to prioritize health care workers and long-term care residents to be the first to receive the vaccine for the COVID-19 vaccine. It is very personal to me as a health care worker and a daughter.

My mom was admitted to an assisted living/personal care home as the lockdown was hitting this past March.

Her health had been declining since September of 2019 …

COVID-19 stands on the shoulders of giants

Martin Lustick, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 7, 2020

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is difficult to assimilate the global transformation that has taken place in just a few short months. As we each struggle to make sense of this life-altering event, it might help to reflect on pandemics’ history in general.

In his book, Epidemics and Society, published last year, Frank Snowden does just that.Exhibiting diligence and deep knowledge, Snowden demonstrates how pandemics have shaped history …

The critical role of physicians as pandemic truth-tellers

Philip A. Masters, MD

Physician

December 7, 2020

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.

Because of their unpredictable occurrence, ubiquitous nature, and the fact that they present us with a previously unknown disease to learn and manage, pandemics have always posed a major threat to humankind. And the novel coronavirus pandemic we are currently experiencing is no …

From online education to frontline medicine

Diana Ioana Rapolti, Deepika Khanna, Vivian Jin, and Shikha Jain, MD

Medical Education

December 6, 2020

When the COVID-19 pandemic came to the United States, it required drastic changes in medical education curricula across the nation, with the majority of learning opportunities transitioning to the virtual setting. As our nation enters the ninth month of this public health crisis, it is necessary to reevaluate the current system and curate the innovative strategies that have been implemented. It is essential that the next generation of physician-scientists …

COVID-19 vaccines: Channeling the 7 habits to get from vaccines to vaccinations

Toyin M. Falusi, MD

Physician

December 6, 2020

In the U.S. and worldwide, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19 are surging. The health care workforce is overworked, and increasingly, more people appear to be experiencing mask fatigue. In the midst of this, there is exciting news. A few weeks ago, initial promising results from two phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials were released. The vaccines reportedly showed 90 to 95 percent efficacy, exceeding expectations, and providing much-needed optimism.

Vaccines are …

Dear families: We are strong, but we are tired

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

Conditions and Diseases

December 6, 2020

After 33 years as an ICU RN, I had finally decided I couldn’t do this anymore. It was my last nightshift. The last shift convinced me I had made the right decision.

The CNA and I went door to door to turn each ICU patient that was not capable of turning themselves.

ICU-06: Mrs. Thelma was 86 years old. She laid in her bed, slightly restless. Restrained. On a ventilator. NG tube …

Rusty nails and first aid: silver linings of COVID-19

Nikitha Kosaraju

Medical Education

December 5, 2020

It’s 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning in September of my second year of medical school. My brother, father, and I are chucking the used wood from our construction site into a U-Haul, prepping the wood for its ill fate of an indoor dumpster. Hundreds of miles away, many of my classmates are either still sleeping, enjoying the early morning LA sun, or perhaps even getting through their Anki cards …

Without trust, we face an uphill battle in defeating COVID-19

Hussain Lalani, MD

Physician

December 4, 2020

My annual routine of recommending the flu shot to my patients is now more critical than ever before. But when I asked one of my patients recently about getting the flu shot, she said:

“No, not really. I’m worried it will give me the flu and make me sick.”

I listened and shared some information about the flu vaccine’s benefits and how preventing hospitalizations due to the flu would help us fight …

Physicians who work themselves into the ground have nothing to be proud of

Jenny Hartsock, MD

Physician

December 4, 2020

There were recently many news articles and coverage exalting a physician for working 250 straight days during COVID. 250 days, that’s nearly 8 1/2 months without a day off.

While this physician displays dedication and caring, I don’t think we should celebrate this as an achievement. The truth is he’s working every day all day for one of two reasons. Either there is no one else, and he’s a victim of …

The potential for violence against health care workers during COVID-19

Gregory Jasani, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 3, 2020

Recently, the FBI foiled an attempt to kidnap the governor of Michigan. The entire story reads like a Tom Clancy novel: a group of disgruntled strangers meets and organizes through chat rooms online. They conduct tactical training in the woods, do surveillance runs of the governor’s house, and even make plans to target law enforcement personnel and blow up a bridge to hamper any response to their attack. The individuals …

Stuck between a virus and a cold place: A choice for homeless Americans awaits

Miracle Diala, Christopher Llerena, Marina Lentskevich, Garth Walker, MD, MPH, and Shikha Jain, MD

Health Policy

December 3, 2020

Imagine having lost your sole source of income in June in the midst of a global pandemic. This is not a unique situation; after all, the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought havoc on many families. And in the United States, life has irrevocably changed. But the worst is yet to come. Illinois is seeing exponential growth of patients with COVID-19, and winter is coming. With it, the homeless population faces …

The coronavirus football double standard

Barbara Lazio, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 2, 2020

It is Thanksgiving and, while many are counting their blessings, others are mourning the loss of family time, routine, turkey, big family gatherings, and football. The Baltimore Ravens had to cancel their game today because of too many positive COVID-19 tests. My logical question as a surgeon was, “So I guess they reschedule for 14 days when they all come off quarantine and isolation?” My daughter, a college student, is …

Be grateful this holiday season

Christine Lau, MD

Physician

November 30, 2020

The holiday season is when we would normally be celebrating with family and friends, all coming together to eat way too much food and watch loved ones open gifts. The reality is COVID-19 has caused us to alter our holiday plans, and this year’s holiday season may look quite a bit different. That being said, perhaps this is the year to appreciate the true meaning of the holidays – to …

Read more…

Be grateful this holiday season

Heartland parenting complicated by COVID

Sarah Averill, MD

Physician

November 30, 2020

Shimmying in his blinding white high-top Converse, the latest addition to his increasingly fashion-conscious wardrobe, Calvin, my 17-year-old son, bursts out, “I’m a good boy! I’m a good boy! I’m a good boy!” Puzzled by this uncharacteristic child-like repetition, I set my banjo down and take in his 6’ 1” frame as he dances in my direction.

“What’s so hard?” I ask, wondering what temptation he’s averted this time and perhaps …

Empty chairs at the table this holiday season

Anjani Amladi, MD

Physician

November 29, 2020

There’s nothing like the holidays and a new year around the corner to remind us that 2020 is almost over. This year let’s try to take nothing for granted. Especially since millions of Americans will soon sit down to a holiday meal with one or more loved ones missing. Those empty chairs are a reminder of what we have endured this year. Whether it be loved ones who are sick, …

What you need to know about cold and flu season in the time of COVID-19

Jerome A. Leis and Allan Grill

Conditions and Diseases

November 29, 2020

The cold and flu season looks very different this year with the COVID-19 pandemic. When a person has a fever, sore throat, aches, and chills, they need to consider when to self isolate, when to be tested for COVID-19, when to be assessed in person and when antibiotics should be considered.

Is it a common cold, the flu, a bacterial infection, or the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)?

In a recent article in the British …

A society that values evidence is more resilient in the face of health crises

Anca Matei, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 28, 2020

In a world of unprecedented access to information and incredible connectedness, everyone is an expert. Public health has been one of the many victims of this phenomenon, yet it is the single most important strategy for managing the global crisis we are in.

The problem with public health is that it is not particularly likable. That has not always been so. Public health used to be really sexy. As the germ …

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

Rizwana Khan, MD

Conditions and Diseases

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 …

A physician waits in uncertainty

Ni-Cheng Liang, MD

Conditions and Diseases

November 27, 2020

It started with diarrhea. Then fever before the patient sought care. The infiltrates were impressive. A dry cough with paroxysms that were sometimes uncontrollable. The rapid test came back negative, as did the send out PCR. The patient returned from international travel two days before admission. My index of suspicion was extremely high. Yes, please keep the patient on enhanced respiratory droplet precautions because her viral load in the nasopharynx …

Read more…

A physician waits in uncertainty

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