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COVID-19 pandemic

1,704 articles · Since 2020

Articles, page 68

Conditions and diseases

COVID-19 is a story of human beings

As a medical student now in the time of COVID-19, many friends and family have turned to me seeking advice and guidance in an uncertain time. I’ve appreciated how my different experiences in medical school have prepared me for this…

As a medical student now in the time of COVID-19, many friends and family have turned to me seeking advice and guidance in an uncertain time. I’ve appreciated how my different experiences in medical school have prepared me for this responsibility. My immunology and pathophysiology classes can explain how COVID-19 spreads, how it attacks the respiratory system, and how the symptoms manifest itself. But I quickly came to realize that …

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COVID-19 is a story of human beings

Conditions and diseases

The enormous potential of a universal mask policy in America’s response to COVID-19

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and officials largely cautioned Americans against wearing face masks in public. Surgeon General Jerome Adams had tweeted, "Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!" to encourage basic hygiene measures and social distancing instead.…

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and officials largely cautioned Americans against wearing face masks in public. Surgeon General Jerome Adams had tweeted, “Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!” to encourage basic hygiene measures and social distancing instead. The CDC dissuaded healthy people from wearing masks as well, recommending they don facial coverings only when exhibiting symptoms. Even President Obama tweeted, “Save the masks for health care workers.” …

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The enormous potential of a universal mask policy in America’s response to COVID-19

Conditions and diseases

How do we grieve in a pandemic?

A few weeks ago, I wondered aloud whether people grieve the same in the middle of a pandemic. A pandemic or other tragedies like earthquakes or tsunamis, when there are hundreds or thousands of people grieving for their lost family…

A few weeks ago, I wondered aloud whether people grieve the same in the middle of a pandemic. A pandemic or other tragedies like earthquakes or tsunamis, when there are hundreds or thousands of people grieving for their lost family members and friends, is their individual grief felt less acutely? Does it help to know that there are other families grieving like yours? Or does the individual grief get pushed …

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How do we grieve in a pandemic?

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Conditions and diseases

How COVID-19 affects this family physician at work and at home

I am sitting at my kitchen table. To my right is my daughter, 9; to my left, my son, 11. They are drawing, reading, doing work that their teachers have diligently sent electronically. Between quiet stretches and fighting between my…

I am sitting at my kitchen table. To my right is my daughter, 9; to my left, my son, 11. They are drawing, reading, doing work that their teachers have diligently sent electronically. Between quiet stretches and fighting between my kids, I try to keep up with the nonstop, detailed emails coming from my institution, Michigan Medicine, information designed to keep staff up to date, and ready to work.

I …

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How COVID-19 affects this family physician at work and at home

Conditions and diseases

A physician’s letter to coronavirus

I hate to say this, but you were right. We hadn’t come across something such as yourself, at least in our lifetime. Young, old, retired, or working—you were an entirely new beast to us. You had the world turned on…

I hate to say this, but you were right.

We hadn’t come across something such as yourself, at least in our lifetime. Young, old, retired, or working—you were an entirely new beast to us. You had the world turned on its head in a matter of months and began to swoop into our lives in the deadliest way.

You are so small, yet your ability for discreetness and complete invisibility had us …

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A physician’s letter to coronavirus

Conditions and diseases

We don’t talk in terms of supply numbers. We talk in terms of days.

Brown paper bags line the windowsill of the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Eskenazi Hospital in downtown Indianapolis. The bags are filled with the N95 masks we're reusing, labeled with the handwritten names of my staff: Patrick, Angela, Brittany. They…

Brown paper bags line the windowsill of the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Eskenazi Hospital in downtown Indianapolis. The bags are filled with the N95 masks we’re reusing, labeled with the handwritten names of my staff: Patrick, Angela, Brittany. They are mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters.

As of this writing, we are caring for more than double our average number of ICU patients and using more than triple our average number …

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We don’t talk in terms of supply numbers. We talk in terms of days.

Conditions and diseases

A thank you to emergency physicians

I want to write a letter of thanks for all the sacrifices you have made for our nation during this COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for all the lives you have saved. Thank you for fighting to save all the lives…

I want to write a letter of thanks for all the sacrifices you have made for our nation during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Thank you for all the lives you have saved.

Thank you for fighting to save all the lives that were lost.

Thank you for leaving your homes each day, not knowing if or when you will hold your children or see your spouse

…

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A thank you to emergency physicians

Conditions and diseases

How the lack of coronavirus testing impacts primary care

My first possible COVID-19 case came nearly three weeks ago, before there were any cases in our city. He was a healthcare professional who presented with fever, sore throat, and cough. We did the usual strep and influenza testing, both…

My first possible COVID-19 case came nearly three weeks ago, before there were any cases in our city. He was a healthcare professional who presented with fever, sore throat, and cough. We did the usual strep and influenza testing, both negative, but I thought that he looked different. He had some diarrhea, stomach pain, and a different look to his face that I couldn’t place.

“You might have it,” I said. …

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How the lack of coronavirus testing impacts primary care

Conditions and diseases

The crisis after COVID-19: Why doctors won’t get treatment

I've been telecommuting for two weeks, and I already feel like Bill Murray's character in the film Groundhog Day. A college friend of mine had a term for this feeling—déjà movie. I ease into my day with the repetitive normalcy…

I’ve been telecommuting for two weeks, and I already feel like Bill Murray’s character in the film Groundhog Day. A college friend of mine had a term for this feeling—déjà movie. I ease into my day with the repetitive normalcy of feeding the dog and sitting with my coffee while I watch the news.

A lead story included pictures taken by Dr. Colleen Smith, a young doctor at Elmhurst Hospital in …

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The crisis after COVID-19: Why doctors won’t get treatment

Conditions and diseases

Even with education on hold, medical students still contribute

I'm a third-year medical student, but my medical education, as I knew it, is currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stanford has pulled its students from hospitals and clinics for the time being, following recommendations from the Association…

I’m a third-year medical student, but my medical education, as I knew it, is currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Stanford has pulled its students from hospitals and clinics for the time being, following recommendations from the Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Our pre-clinical students, first and second-years, have transitioned to remote learning. Fourth-years, who have mostly completed their required rotations and have already  …

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Even with education on hold, medical students still contribute

Conditions and diseases

We’re buying masks and gowns with clinicians’ health. We need to stop.

I am the director of critical care for a hospital. Five days ago I tested positive for COVID-19. I can’t know for certain where exactly I contracted the virus. But when my hospital admitted its first COVID-positive patient, I stayed…

I am the director of critical care for a hospital. Five days ago I tested positive for COVID-19. I can’t know for certain where exactly I contracted the virus. But when my hospital admitted its first COVID-positive patient, I stayed until 3 a.m. to set up the isolation ward and care for the patient until she was intubated and transferred to the ICU. I entered the isolation room wearing

…

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We’re buying masks and gowns with clinicians’ health. We need to stop.

Conditions and diseases

The inspiring women physicians of the COVID-19 pandemic

I am a professor and cardiac anesthesiologist who practices at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Like the majority of health centers across the world, our leaders are working around the clock to treat COVID-19 in our…

I am a professor and cardiac anesthesiologist who practices at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Like the majority of health centers across the world, our leaders are working around the clock to treat COVID-19 in our community. We on the front lines are preparing, educating ourselves daily on rapidly changing plans and treatments, and working to keep …

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The inspiring women physicians of the COVID-19 pandemic

Physician finance

This pandemic highlights the need for an emergency fund

Out of the blue, a new virus popped up, and ten weeks later, it is a pandemic. Within the last ten weeks, doctors have identified this new disease, figured out how it is transmitted, identified what body fluid we need…

Out of the blue, a new virus popped up, and ten weeks later, it is a pandemic. Within the last ten weeks, doctors have identified this new disease, figured out how it is transmitted, identified what body fluid we need to test to determine who has contracted the disease, developed a test for it, mass-produced that test, and distributed the tests all over the world. What an incredible response we …

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This pandemic highlights the need for an emergency fund

Conditions and diseases

Truth dies in silence. Sadly, so do people.

I have been writing columns for physicians for twenty years. And year after year, I have had physicians say this: "I'm glad you said what you did. If I said it, I'd be fired." There are variations on the theme,…

I have been writing columns for physicians for twenty years.  And year after year, I have had physicians say this: “I’m glad you said what you did. If I said it, I’d be fired.” There are variations on the theme, but they’re much the same.  Twenty years, and far more than 20 years, during which the alleged health care leaders in America have been routinely muzzled because they aren’t supposed …

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Truth dies in silence. Sadly, so do people.

Physician finance

How doctors can rush to complete their wills

With COVID-19 raging through the nation, and limited supply of PPE at hospitals, doctors and other critical care personnel are at high risk due to their increased and daily exposure to the virus. For health care workers, the need to…

With COVID-19 raging through the nation, and limited supply of PPE at hospitals, doctors and other critical care personnel are at high risk due to their increased and daily exposure to the virus. For health care workers, the need to plan for a possible worst-case outcome for themselves and their families has become an immediate concern. Doctors are spending limited weekend time

…

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How doctors can rush to complete their wills

Conditions and diseases

How the coronavirus pandemic can save lives in the future

Infectious diseases have been a scourge of mankind since time immemorial. I am a keen reader of history, and anyone who does so, knows that infections have not only caused billions of deaths and untold suffering—but have also brought down…

Infectious diseases have been a scourge of mankind since time immemorial. I am a keen reader of history, and anyone who does so, knows that infections have not only caused billions of deaths and untold suffering—but have also brought down kings, armies, empires, and entire civilizations. Previous pandemics have literally changed the course of human history. The one we now face in 2020s America thankfully falls at a time of …

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How the coronavirus pandemic can save lives in the future

Conditions and diseases

The guilt of a retired nurse

I am 64 years old. I was a nurse for 34 years, retiring a year, and three months ago, I worked on the medical-surgical floor, ICU, and the last 30 years, in the emergency room. I retired because I'd had…

I am 64 years old. I was a nurse for 34 years, retiring a year, and three months ago, I worked on the medical-surgical floor, ICU, and the last 30 years, in the emergency room. I retired because I’d had enough.

This year has changed me. My life no longer revolves around my ER job. I am not exhausted from 12-hour shifts, taking at least a day to recover. I no …

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The guilt of a retired nurse

Conditions and diseases

COVID-19’s dual threat to seniors: Lapses in care and social isolation is as devastating as the virus itself 

The novel coronavirus continues to rage through America, with the total cases standing at more than 210,000 and the death toll at over 5,000. It is without question that our seniors--those 65 years of age or older--will bear the brunt…

The novel coronavirus continues to rage through America, with the total cases standing at more than 210,000 and the death toll at over 5,000. It is without question that our seniors–those 65 years of age or older–will bear the brunt of the health consequences of COVID-19 and the projected American death toll of up to 240,000 this year.

It is now well known that seniors have a …

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COVID-19’s dual threat to seniors: Lapses in care and social isolation is as devastating as the virus itself 

Conditions and diseases

Should the telemedicine boom persist after the COVID-19 pandemic?

It was 2013. High-tech entrepreneurs were excitedly “disrupting” industries, bringing goods and services closer to users. Uber replaced cabs, Kickstarter replaced investors, and telehealth companies offered convenient, at-home medical care over smartphone video. Why waste time going to an office…

It was 2013. High-tech entrepreneurs were excitedly “disrupting” industries, bringing goods and services closer to users. Uber replaced cabs, Kickstarter replaced investors, and telehealth companies offered convenient, at-home medical care over smartphone video. Why waste time going to an office or clinic, especially if you’re not feeling well? Why spend so much money? The physician’s physical examination had been oversold. It wasn’t really needed.

Psychotherapy never required a physical exam in …

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Should the telemedicine boom persist after the COVID-19 pandemic?

Conditions and diseases

Why we must be cautious about hydroxychloroquine

We have all listened repeatedly to the many confused, confusing, and misleading statements coming from the White House in the midst of this pandemic, unprecedented in its scope and existential threat. Responding to all the misstatements would be a full-time…

We have all listened repeatedly to the many confused, confusing, and misleading statements coming from the White House in the midst of this pandemic, unprecedented in its scope and existential threat. Responding to all the misstatements would be a full-time job. However, the barrage of reckless comments made about drug treatments for COVID-19 during a briefing on April 5, 2020, requires immediate and strong correction.

To address this, I will respond—in …

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Why we must be cautious about hydroxychloroquine

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