<span itemprop="author">Nicole M. King, MD

Author's posts

Navigating COVID: a journey from academic intensity to healing

Springtime. Blooming trees. Green grass. Cool winds. Sunny skies. COVID. That is where my mind wanders every year since 2020, when the season turns. I flash back to the drive between the hospital and my home. Every evening after fighting a losing battl…

Chiefs fan to gun violence advocate: How football and tragedy reshaped my mission

Those who know me well and even those who don’t are aware of my passion and commitment to the Kansas City Chiefs. As an avid fan who was born and raised in KC, I can assure everyone that there were many dark years and even decades prior to the cu…

Navigating life stories and medical decisions

As a physician, I am given both the gift and the burden of another’s most intimate moments or even their indiscretions. There is a cloak of invisibility that wraps around a patient and me when behind a closed door. Almost as if the concept of guilt, in…

On the front lines of COVID-19: the untold sacrifices and heroic efforts of health care professionals

There is a phenomenon sweeping across various medical circles on social media that is forcing people to address accusations from those who were not on the front lines of COVID at the beginning of the pandemic. Though I have refused to pay much attentio…

The surgeon-anesthesiologist relationship: Learning to work together in the OR

Last week I walked past him sitting outside of the OR. It was morning, before all of the first start cases, but he had been there all night. I already knew this. Two back-to-back transplants overnight. He, a surgical fellow, me, a critical care anesthe…

Working in medicine isn’t an all-or-nothing situation

I have recently undergone (yet another) transition and am now back to living at home with my family full time instead of in an apartment half of the time. So wonderful most of the time … I think. It is amazing and a very big wake-up call that I missed …