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 mom…
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 beau…
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 —…
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 …
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 i…
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…
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…
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 fat…
The current news cycles concerning COVID-19 today are frightening. The media has portrayed COVID-19 as an amazingly deadly virus. And to some people, that is very true. But not to about 98% of those who are COVID-19 positive. The death rates still hove…
As a radiologist, it should come as no surprise that I am not a “touchy” person. Not only do I remember the first MeToo movement that coincided with the 1991 Clarence Thomas hearings, but I just assume that people don’t want to be touched unless they i…
