It’s never easy to lose someone you love. Imagine not being able to be at their bedside or say goodbye in person. Imagine losing them and not being able to have more than ten people at their funeral … if you are even able to have a funeral. There is no hugging, no tears wiped away, just the same feelings of loss without the human touch of comfort. For thousands …
Bereavement during social distancing
There is a picture of me kneeling in front of the Azure Window, once off the coast of Malta, eating a chocolate ice-cream cone. I am 12 years old, having just finished the sixth grade, wearing high-top “Bathroom Wall” Converse and not-at-all-grungy cargo pants in my attempt to emulate the 2008 aesthetic of Avril Lavigne. On top, I’m wearing a plaid button-down and a straw cowboy hat, which my mom …
The middle school of medicine: a reflection on the first year of medical school
As I reflect on Independence Day, I think of soldiers that sacrificed their own lives for others – present and future. They knew what they were facing, and yet, continued to push forward. They imperfectly led our nation through unprecedented waters with wisdom and perseverance. Today, we find ourselves in unprecedented waters – questioning our country, our leaders, our friends, and our doctors. Breaking silence, I am answering the question, …
To my kids from a mentally exhausted doctor
In polarizing politics, it seems that somehow the greater good often misses the very grain that comes together and makes it great — the people.
After we blindfolded ourselves to a warning from China and then Italy, New York witnessed the grinding impact of COVID-19. Merely two months later, many other states are showing unprecedented growth in cases. Surpassing 2.5 million cases, we have officially unflattened the curve. Our failed …
Complacency fuels the slow burn of COVID-19
The daily email update on COVID-19 affecting our hospital system is a glaring reflection of the health disparities amongst those in marginalized groups. The farther south you go, generally in San Diego, the higher the number of socioeconomically disadvantaged persons, and that tends to include a disproportionate number of persons of color. These populations may be unable to physically distance due to living conditions and job conditions. Perhaps there is …
COVID-19 becomes a magnifying glass for health disparities
I have been drinking since I was 13 years old. I honestly didn’t realize that I had a problem until the last couple of years. The problem wasn’t so much that I drank in excess, or got in trouble at work, with the law, or with my family. The problem was that I couldn’t handle the full breadth of my emotions. Too much sadness, or even too much elation, was …
I stopped drinking and then there was a pandemic
I never thought that I would resign with my last day of work being the same day of my resignation. In fact, I did everything in my power to stay at my job, but the job didn’t want me to stay. COVID brought a sharp focus on the difference between my goals and my employer’s goals.
The meatpacking plants made my town a COVID hotspot. To minimize patient COVID exposure, we …
How the pandemic forced this physician to quit
Public health has never been more important. As the coronavirus waxes and wanes, it is crucial that our evolving understanding of COVID-19 translate into our everyday lives. Our collective response to the virus will be much improved with an acknowledgment that our scientific knowledge is dynamic, and that we may have to alter our behaviors as scientists unearth more information about the virus’s transmissibility and lethality.
Nowhere is this evolving understanding …
Our public health efforts depend on flexibility and trust
It was a Thursday. It was supposed to be one of those “regular” evening shifts. Then, at 6:15 p.m., my first page went off: Bed 11, Mrs. R., Dr. H. needs to talk to you. The page came from the COVID section of the emergency department.
I immediately called back. It saddened me when I learned that our patient was a young woman health care worker in her early 50s. She …
The emotional side of being a doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic
I feet truly honored to have been asked to speak at your graduation and to have a chance to share on this day with all of you. We are experiencing a truly singular moment, and I imagine you are hoping that I might say something that would be comforting or inspiring, and I really can’t think what that could possibly be.
For the last half of your third year of residency, …
A graduation speech to a residency class
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped New York City, I have come to dread calling home to my parents. Every conversation ultimately leads to the question: “Is everyone okay?” This is always followed by a pause as my parents consider how much to tell me. Over the past few months, I learned on an almost weekly basis of a new family member, family friend, or neighbor who was hospitalized, transferred …
COVID-19 is a grim reminder of my roots
What if I told you that the most important vital sign of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely being incorrectly reported in almost every doctor’s office, urgent care center, and hospital around the country?
The everyday citizen probably believes that this is an exaggeration, but most physicians know that this is unfortunately, accurate. Let’s step back a minute. Years ago, terms like sepsis, septicemia, and bacteremia were frequently used in an interchangeable …
The most important and erroneously reported vital sign in medicine
The fight. The battle. The conquest.
The opponent. The enemy. The nemesis.
Our collective descriptions of our response to COVID-19 are analogous to our descriptions of wartime. We have cast the novel coronavirus as the opposition and ourselves as the mighty conquerors. Reflecting on this portrayal over the past three months – during the final stretch of my medical training before becoming an independent practitioner – I find myself wondering if this …
A shift in mindset in our approach to the “fight” against COVID-19
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June 25
Like most physicians, I am bad at scheduling my own doctors visit. This year, despite COVID craziness, I had made an appointment with a new PCP to get Singulair refills (my allergies were a killer, and a drippy nose behind an N95 is no joke). I loved my new PCP! She connected with me on a personal level. She dealt with all my concerns without making me come in …
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the health inequities many Americans face because of where they live and the air they breathe. We are seeing what I have long seen in my allergy practice—many of my patients live in communities with unhealthy air.
Patients like James, a 50-year-old African American bus driver who lives in Maryland. He sees me for asthma and pollen allergies, which are …
People with COVID-19 who live in highly polluted areas are more likely to die
There are now 16 states (as of the end of June) that require people to wear face coverings when out in public. But we need to acknowledge it: many Americans really don’t want to. Our president and vice-president don’t wear masks, even though members of their staff have tested positive for COVD-19. When protestors gathered in state capitols to rally against stay-at-home orders, most did so …
Let’s assume you have coronavirus
The alarm goes off! Code blue! Code blue! The code blue team rushes to the scene. The patient is unresponsive. There is no pulse. The leader of the code team looks at the monitor and takes charge. The patient is in ventricular fibrillation (cardiac arrest) and would very well flat-line if prompt action is not taken. The leader gives clear instructions: Start chest compression. Fred, you will handle the defibrillator. …
We should communicate like we are in a code blue
Antibody testing, also called serological testing, can be used to determine whether an individual is currently infected with COVID-19 or has previously been infected with COVID-19 and recovered. Unlike the molecular testing (PCR tests), which detects the presence of genetic material from the virus from a nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab, these antibody tests identify exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19) by looking for antibodies generated by the immune …
Should you get a COVID-19 antibody test?
Without a doubt, life has been peculiar since the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic. The social, political, financial, and emotional tolls have been staggering; however, most recently, I’ve been interested in the sensory deficits it seems to be unmasking. Despite being back out in society, at work, or venturing into my children’s school, I have yet to resume seeing people’s faces. The world, as I know it, has become a …
The sensory limitation of wearing masks
I stirred awake when my husband’s cell phone rang. It was early, and we had gone to bed late, and slept little. My father-in-law was in the ICU in a hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was now intubated, hooked up to a ventilator, victim to COVID-19. We would eagerly await phone calls from the ICU physician or nurse, wanting updates on how he was doing. Did his oxygen saturation …
Communication in the time of COVID
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