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.
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase exponentially across the country, influenza (flu) season is upon us. With over 220,000 coronavirus-induced deaths in the United States since the start of this pandemic, we must prepare ourselves for a difficult winter with no end in sight. While implementing universal mask-wearing and social distancing is essential to mitigate this senseless loss of life, we …
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Why flu vaccines are more important than ever in this pandemic
During this past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned our lives upside down and changed not just the way we live and work but also how we think and behave. Every part of the world has been affected, and every aspect of life has been impacted. Our everyday routines were brought to a stop, and any sense of normalcy was lost. While we stop and look at the world around …
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5 life lessons COVID-19 has taught me
I read on social media that sea moss gel is supposed to cure coronavirus. Do I still need to wear a mask?
It’s hard to imagine physicians being deceptive to patients about matters of life and death. Yet, the politicization of health care coverage, COVID-19, disparities in health outcomes, and women’s health rights has severely fractured the relationship between health officials and the American public. Prior to the pandemic, …
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Doctors for truth: Fighting for trust in an era of misinformation
Over the last seven months, the state of medicine, as we have known it in the United States, has been found out. Disjointed, disheartened, and failing. For every ounce of energy we have put into patient safety, quality improvement, and preventing medical errors over the past 20 years, we have simultaneously drained the soul from medicine by turning our work into a commodity, with a price attached to every action …
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The safety of patients is dependent on our commitment to a just and change-oriented mindset
I’m not outspoken about much, but will not, can not, hold back my battle cry about masks. Would I feel so adamant if I didn’t possess a crisp death certificate with, “CORONAVIRUS 2019” in an envelope inside the file cabinet beside me? Maybe, maybe not. The envelope came sealed with a sticker embossed with the name of the funeral home that handled my mother’s funeral. I thought it was …
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What is the wound behind anti-mask bullying?
“Hope things go back to normal soon.”
That was the text I received from a friend yesterday. It struck me in reading those words that I have stopped thinking or worrying about the end of the pandemic. In those first months, absolutely. Daily thoughts of getting back to normal life.
Now, out of self-preservation and a renewed sense of life’s sacredness and fragileness, I have turned to making the most of each …
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2 stories that remind us to find joy and creativity in our new normal
In this age of the coronavirus pandemic, every moment of life takes on new meaning and importance. Decisions must be made based upon facts known, not assumed. Everything requires careful thought and planning, like a trip to the pharmacy for refills of prescriptions or a trip to the local grocery store to pick up needed food supplies. Even a trip to the local park for much-needed exercise requires thought of …
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A patient’s COVID-19 reflections
Children and teens with headaches and migraines have been affected in a variety of ways by these pandemic times. Thinking back, there has been a difference between last spring and this fall and the effect on my patients, particularly in the school environment.
In the early days last Spring, many of my patients who had been having a hard time getting to school every day due to …
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How the pandemic affects children and teens with headaches and migraines
Initially, after completing my master’s degree, I felt a bit lost. Being very busy, juggling different roles, focusing on areas of interest to the exclusion of other areas of life has long been my comfort zone. The stillness of having completed an intensive project while working full time would have been challenging enough. But in the middle of a pandemic, I found myself wandering around my house, confined, without a …
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COVID-19 is a time of coming to terms with meaning in our lives and tolerating uncertainty
My first—and last—clinical rotation was at a newly built nursing home attached to a community hospital near school. I didn’t have a car on campus, and hitched rides from classmates who were typically commuters with night jobs.
They were a tougher, more sophisticated breed of young women than I was used to in my hometown. They smoked, but their voices still seemed naturally lower-pitched than mine. They never squeaked …
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Reflections on caregiving from a nursing school dropout
COVID-19, first diagnosed in China in December 2019, has since spread across the world and affected over 37 million individuals. While most people infected with COVID-19 experience mild to moderate illness and recovery without the need for hospitalization or medical intervention, some require intensive care for weeks to months. Despite an estimated 28 million individuals who have “recovered” from COVID-19, there is increasing evidence of persistent symptoms and even organ …
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The importance of rehabilitation in COVID-19 patients
COVID-19, first identified in December 2019 and declared a global pandemic in March 2020, has taken a toll on everyone around the world. After months of varying levels of lockdown and quarantine, people are developing pandemic fatigue, and craving human contact and normalcy again. This, coupled with the reopening of the nation, businesses reopening, and schools back in session, many people are relying on COVID-19 testing to say they are …
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What are the limitations of COVID-19 testing?
Among the questions I’m asked most often as host of the podcast Coronavirus: The Truth are: “How have other nations effectively contained the pandemic?” and “Why can’t the United States copy their success?”
For months, health experts have answered these questions by pointing to a combination of science and strategy. Other nations, they say, test more frequently, impose tighter social restrictions and boast …
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COVID-19 will kill 500,000 Americans. Here’s why.
Despite the pervasiveness of mental illness and burnout among medical providers, only in the past decade have providers begun to acknowledge and explore the psychological distress so many struggle with. As a resident, I have observed how COVID-19 has further complicated this situation by dramatically increasing stress while limiting our capacity to deal with that stress. This dangerous combination is setting us up for a surge in already sky-high burnout …
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The impact of COVID-19 on resident burnout and how we can combat it
During the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists, physicians, and public health epidemiologists have come together, and there has been a surge in research worldwide. Basic science research has been leading the way in developing vaccines and genome sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 strains. The industry has ramped up research on developing antibody tests and viral tests to keep up with the increased need for COVID-19 testing. Clinical research and trials have drastically increased to …
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Research in the midst of a pandemic
Amidst the height of the COVID pandemic in New York City, I turned to Netflix to find morsels of yesterday, which seemed so distant then. During this time, I discovered Mindy Kaling’s creation, Never Have I Ever. The show tries to tell the story of a protagonist who is struggling to find compassion for her identity as a South Asian girl living in California after the tragic loss of her …
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A hospitalist’s COVID reflection
I evaluated the patient in one of our designated exam rooms for persons under investigation (PUIs) for COVID-19, fully doffed in personal protective equipment (PPE): an uncomfortable, resonant face shield over my surgical mask, looking like Big Bird in a bright yellow gown. It was a false alarm. But like many other clinic visits these days, we ended up talking about COVID-19.
“I can’t wait until we have a COVID vaccine …
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Thank a health care worker. Get a flu shot.
