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COVID-19 pandemic

1,704 articles · Since 2020

Articles, page 69

Conditions and diseases

COVID-19: How do we protect our children?

As I get ready for work, my children, aged 3, 8 and 14, run to me and give me hugs so tight that I catch my breath. It also makes me realize that I have now developed a soft tummy…

As I get ready for work, my children, aged 3, 8 and 14, run to me and give me hugs so tight that I catch my breath. It also makes me realize that I have now developed a soft tummy that will need hours in the gym to flatten out. Flatten the curve, so to speak.

These are not normal times. While some of us have had the opportunity of spending …

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COVID-19: How do we protect our children?

Conditions and diseases

COVID-19 made me realize that I’m not ready to die to be a doctor

3

My last block of medical school was supposed to be the best part of the past four years. I carefully crafted a four-week vacation from school, designed for searching for the perfect place to live during my emergency medicine residency…

My last block of medical school was supposed to be the best part of the past four years. I carefully crafted a four-week vacation from school, designed for searching for the perfect place to live during my emergency medicine residency while spending valuable time connecting with classmates I might never see again. I could never imagine my current reality of moving back into my childhood bedroom and hiding from imminent …

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COVID-19 made me realize that I’m not ready to die to be a doctor

Conditions and diseases

Doctors and health care workers must be granted student loan forgiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic

3

While millions of Americans are being told to stay home, doctors, nurses, and other health care providers are showing up to work every day to battle an invisible enemy—the deadly COVID-19 virus. With hospitals, doctors’ offices, and nursing homes facing…

While millions of Americans are being told to stay home, doctors, nurses, and other health care providers are showing up to work every day to battle an invisible enemy—the deadly COVID-19 virus. With hospitals, doctors’ offices, and nursing homes facing personal protective equipment shortages, for health care providers, it is a daily choice between their own health and that of their patients. In fact, many …

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Doctors and health care workers must be granted student loan forgiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Conditions and diseases

Can I belong to the medical profession without having to give up everything else?

I had spent the morning in the operating room, holding open the mouth of a young man while the resident physician attempted to stabilize the fractures in his jaw bone and lace wires between his upper and lower gums, much…

I had spent the morning in the operating room, holding open the mouth of a young man while the resident physician attempted to stabilize the fractures in his jaw bone and lace wires between his upper and lower gums, much the way one would thread a shoelace between the sides of a sneaker. Peering into the patient’s mouth, I couldn’t help but wonder if he could be an asymptomatic carrier …

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Can I belong to the medical profession without having to give up everything else?

Conditions and diseases

Support your local private practice physician. They’re a small business.

2

Small businesses are a vital part of our economy. They are ubiquitous and take on numerous forms, including traditional brick and mortar spaces, kiosks, and online enterprises. They enhance our most basic capitalist principles, such as innovation, entrepreneurship, and competition.…

Small businesses are a vital part of our economy. They are ubiquitous and take on numerous forms, including traditional brick and mortar spaces, kiosks, and online enterprises. They enhance our most basic capitalist principles, such as innovation, entrepreneurship, and competition. Many small business owners give of their hearts and souls, viewing their employees and customers as family. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and with it the necessary sweeping measures of …

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Support your local private practice physician. They’re a small business.

Conditions and diseases

How parenting in a pandemic is an unexpected opportunity

Being a parent in the middle of a pandemic is not easy. Sheltering in place with canceled daycare, school, and college, while also being a doctor or other healthcare worker, working in high-risk, high-intensity situations, presents many challenges. It also…

Being a parent in the middle of a pandemic is not easy. Sheltering in place with canceled daycare, school, and college, while also being a doctor or other healthcare worker, working in high-risk, high-intensity situations, presents many challenges.  It also presents many opportunities.

It is possible to choose thoughts about being a physician and a parent during the COVID-19 situation that can help it feel more like an opportunity and less …

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How parenting in a pandemic is an unexpected opportunity

Conditions and diseases

Stop romanticizing the Italian health care during the COVID-19 pandemic

I have been reading about “the Italian health care system, one of the best in the world,” yet unable to keep pace with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Let me be honest and unpopular: the Italian health care system is rotten,…

I have been reading about “the Italian health care system, one of the best in the world,” yet unable to keep pace with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Let me be honest and unpopular: the Italian health care system is rotten, and the coronavirus pandemic is showing it to the world.

I am an Italian physician based in Los Angeles. I was 25-year-old when, nauseated by a health care system dominated by …

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Stop romanticizing the Italian health care during the COVID-19 pandemic

Conditions and diseases

A love letter to doctors, from the sidelines of the COVID-19 pandemic

After ten years as a hospitalist, I stopped practicing clinical medicine to focus my energy on helping doctors and other health care professionals reconnect with their professional (and personal) lives in a more meaningful way. I primarily do that through…

After ten years as a hospitalist, I stopped practicing clinical medicine to focus my energy on helping doctors and other health care professionals reconnect with their professional (and personal) lives in a more meaningful way. I primarily do that through meditation, a stress-reduction technique called tapping (also called EFT), and coaching.

Since the pandemic ramped up in March, I’ve been donating my services to work with docs on COVID-related stress, and …

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A love letter to doctors, from the sidelines of the COVID-19 pandemic

Conditions and diseases

Physician deaths in the era of COVID-19: human sacrifice, not heroism

3

A COVID-19 positive resident physician in Detroit died recently, and reportedly two more who treated patients with the virus in New York City have died this week as well; although I can't say for certain, because their names have not…

A COVID-19 positive resident physician in Detroit died recently, and reportedly two more who treated patients with the virus in New York City have died this week as well; although I can’t say for certain, because their names have not been released and their stories exist only in hushed whispers of the resident community.

And there’s nothing heroic about it. There’s nothing heroic about the preventable deaths of good and generous …

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Physician deaths in the era of COVID-19: human sacrifice, not heroism

Conditions and diseases

A letter to medical interns, in the midst of a pandemic

In residency programs across the country, there is ongoing disappointment and a profound sense of disruption. Match Day was canceled for soon-to-be interns. Medical school and residency graduations will be strange. Finding a place to live and moving in a…

In residency programs across the country, there is ongoing disappointment and a profound sense of disruption. Match Day was canceled for soon-to-be interns. Medical school and residency graduations will be strange. Finding a place to live and moving in a time of quarantine will be difficult. The only thing certain about the transition to or from residency is uncertainty. “How do I make sense of this?” is a question that …

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A letter to medical interns, in the midst of a pandemic

Conditions and diseases

Social connection in a world of physical distancing

It has been fascinating to see how our language has become saturated with new vocabulary in the past few weeks, as cases of COVID-19 have exponentially increased worldwide. Terms usually reserved for public health curriculums - flatten the curve, self-isolation,…

It has been fascinating to see how our language has become saturated with new vocabulary in the past few weeks, as cases of COVID-19 have exponentially increased worldwide. Terms usually reserved for public health curriculums – flatten the curve, self-isolation, self-quarantine, pandemic – are now part of our daily conversations, and are even available as GIFs on Instagram stories. The language we use on a daily basis ultimately shapes the …

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Social connection in a world of physical distancing

Conditions and diseases

We are all living with serious illness now

At the end of a long shift in the hospital last week, I (Michael) stopped by the room of a patient before he left to go home with hospice. It hadn’t been long since I gave him the news that…

At the end of a long shift in the hospital last week, I (Michael) stopped by the room of a patient before he left to go home with hospice. It hadn’t been long since I gave him the news that his cancer had spread and was now incurable. I asked him what was on his mind. Looking down at his papery …

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We are all living with serious illness now

Conditions and diseases

In a pandemic, choosing your thoughts is where your power and control lie

As health care providers, we are facing unprecedented challenges right now. Thank you to every one of my medical colleagues for your valuable contributions at this moment. Wellness and self-care have never been more important than they are at this…

As health care providers, we are facing unprecedented challenges right now.  Thank you to every one of my medical colleagues for your valuable contributions at this moment.

Wellness and self-care have never been more important than they are at this moment. We must care for patients to the best of our abilities, but we must also care for ourselves.  If you sacrifice your own physical and emotional health, who will be …

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In a pandemic, choosing your thoughts is where your power and control lie

Conditions and diseases

An anatomy lab partner lost: What would Chris have thought about COVID-19?

2

Chris was my anatomy partner during medical school. We had the right side of the cadaver across from Felipe and Andrew. Felipe was the son of a famous chemist and would disappear after class. He is now an internist. Andrew…

Chris was my anatomy partner during medical school. We had the right side of the cadaver across from Felipe and Andrew. Felipe was the son of a famous chemist and would disappear after class. He is now an internist. Andrew was handsome and dated a beautiful classmate. He stayed at one of the teaching hospitals.

Anatomy was hard. It was our introduction to medicine. When I first saw our cadaver when …

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An anatomy lab partner lost: What would Chris have thought about COVID-19?

Conditions and diseases

Quotes and songs to help you survive COVID-19

I’m a cardiology fellow on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many, I know suffering. In 2017, I lost my father to rapidly progressive dementia. I was postpartum at the time, and he did not even know I was…

I’m a cardiology fellow on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many, I know suffering. In 2017, I lost my father to rapidly progressive dementia. I was postpartum at the time, and he did not even know I was ever pregnant. My stepfather — my father since I was eight years old — the only man who appreciated me and celebrated all my uniqueness and success, passed away

…

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Quotes and songs to help you survive COVID-19

Conditions and diseases

This king of all viral syndromes is here

We are still in the office. I go daily, either dressed in scrubs or shirt and tie, in an effort to maintain some sense of normalcy. I can feel the anguish of staff who themselves are deemed “essential.” Their apprehension…

We are still in the office.  I go daily, either dressed in scrubs or shirt and tie, in an effort to maintain some sense of normalcy.  I can feel the anguish of staff who themselves are deemed “essential.”  Their apprehension about the possibilities of themselves being infected adds a starchy thickener to the office atmosphere as they answer phone calls, receive medical records via fax, and schedule appointments while postponing …

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This king of all viral syndromes is here

Conditions and diseases

Hold on to humanity while we still can

Washington State has benefited from an early response to COVID-19; organized and isolated, the curve seems to have flattened. Within our hospitals, we continue to prepare for the worst. This includes addressing the reality of limited resources and an insurmountable…

Washington State has benefited from an early response to COVID-19; organized and isolated, the curve seems to have flattened. Within our hospitals, we continue to prepare for the worst. This includes addressing the reality of limited resources and an insurmountable number of patients, a “crisis” standard-of-care.

For many health care workers, fatigue and fear of exposure pale compared to the emotional toll of countless COVID-19 tragedies. At the forefront of our …

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Hold on to humanity while we still can

Conditions and diseases

Use the military to organize a national medical system for the coronavirus pandemic

There was a very interesting op-ed in the New York Times recently. It describes using an aeromedical evacuation system to transfer coronavirus patients to other cities around the United States. There are hospitals sitting idle right now. There is talk…

There was a very interesting op-ed in the New York Times recently.  It describes using an aeromedical evacuation system to transfer coronavirus patients to other cities around the United States.

There are hospitals sitting idle right now. There is talk of layoffs in some places. Elective surgeries and procedures have been canceled. People are not clogging up ERs with small complaints like they usually do.  So staffs …

Read more…

Use the military to organize a national medical system for the coronavirus pandemic

Conditions and diseases

Coronavirus is forcing us to confront addiction treatment paradoxes

On March 19th, the federal government loosened regulations around methadone and buprenorphine, two medications used to treat opioid addiction. The change was triggered by the novel coronavirus and concerns that current practices would either contribute to its spread or restrict…

On March 19th, the federal government loosened regulations around methadone and buprenorphine, two medications used to treat opioid addiction. The change was triggered by the novel coronavirus and concerns that current practices would either contribute to its spread or restrict critical opioid addiction treatment.

For all the havoc the coronavirus is undoubtedly causing, it is also compelling us to examine our approach to these medications with a …

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Coronavirus is forcing us to confront addiction treatment paradoxes

Conditions and diseases

How the pandemic affects this pediatrician’s family

It’s the high five I’m unable to give to that five-year-old patient after I check his red throat. It’s the song I can’t sing while I look into a toddler’s ears as they cling to their momma’s neck. It’s the…

It’s the high five I’m unable to give to that five-year-old patient after I check his red throat. It’s the song I can’t sing while I look into a toddler’s ears as they cling to their momma’s neck. It’s the hug I can’t give the mom who just lost her father to cancer two weeks ago. These are the things I’ve missed over the last few weeks. This is the …

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How the pandemic affects this pediatrician’s family

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