As I write this, we are in dark times. Over 23,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, and there are half a million diagnosed cases – even with testing far from comprehensive. Most cities are on some sort of lockdown. Most of us have become…
Category: Conditions
Health care workers during the COVID-19 crisis: superheroes or human-heroes?
This essay is for my colleagues. When I say “colleagues,” I am referring to all health care workers who are currently working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis or are engaging in patient care at any level. This might be an unconventional essay c…
You’re just the anesthesiology resident
You always knew they didn’t care about you. The administration, I mean. But you knew that going into it. It’s just four years that you have to endure until you can be respected, until you make the big bucks, until you’re treated like a human being. …
Cowardice in the face of coronavirus
When coronavirus exploded, my family was on vacation in Colorado. We played the news nonstop, and it was frightening. I’m a control freak, a planner, and thus my worries were nonstop. What were other hospitals doing to prepare as compared to my own? Wh…
When the pandemic became real to this physician
Everything feels like it’s happening out of a movie, mostly because we’ve all seen it before. Pandemic, Outbreak, even World War Z. It has never felt real, until it became real. It became real when all of my friends from my pediatrics residency in New …
Do viruses infect bones?
Viruses typically invade our bodies through an opening. Think gastrointestinal flu, COVID-19, AIDS. Our bones, however, are normally protected from any outside exposure, so they should be safe, right? The short answer is yes and no. Of course, knowledg…
COVID-19 is causing massive disruptions for medical students. It’s also making us better doctors.
I packed my bags to head home for spring break, excited for a week with family and friends—a rare opportunity to recharge during the first year of medical school. I headed straight to the airport after my neurology exam at the beginning of March, not r…
The deadly racial disparity of COVID-19
There is an old adage within the black community that says, “When White America catches a cold, Black America has pneumonia.” African American patients with COVID-19 are dying at a significantly higher rate compared to other races. These statistics are…
The struggle of being a nurse is real
As I struggled my way through nursing school, I never expected my first job as a nurse to feel like this; I was too busy dreaming of the day when I could hold the title of registered nurse. I never expected to come home crying. I never expected that, a…
Thank you nurses, for rushing in when we need you most
Months ago, it was in the distance. International hints of a contagion, a virus in China. We heard it all too many times, desensitized by the occasional threats, conspiracy theories, and Hollywood depictions. “It’s fiction. It could never happen to …
