I write to the health care workers and other essential hospital personnel who are at the center of efforts to care for our neighbors during the novel coronavirus pandemic. I am a pulmonary specialist and critical care physician. I am trained to manage…
Two months ago, I kneeled next to Sarah – an avid drinker of chocolate milk, ex-journalist, and new hospice resident – in a nursing homeroom. We had a knack for discussing emotions, and that day, our conversation reached the idea of suffering. Her pain…
On 9/11, firefighters and other first responders rushed in to protect others, and for that, they will always be heroes. Today, health care workers are rushing in to heal those with COVID-19 – at great risk to themselves. Health care workers are the tru…
With the world more or less at a standstill, how do we cope with our needs as human beings? So much has changed in our world in such a short amount of time. For most of us, our rather predictable and standard routines have come to a complete standstill…
Both clinical and direct-to-consumer genetic testing have become significantly less costly and more common, providing people with access to a wealth of information about everything from their ethnicity and family lineage to their risk for certain disea…
When physicians present at medical conferences, we usually start with a slide disclosing any potential conflicts of interest to our audience. I probably need to disclose two things here. First, I’m an infuriating and inexhaustible optimist. Second, I’m…
The first five liver transplant recipients were all dead within 23 days. The year was 1963, the surgeon was Dr. Thomas Starzl, and the operations were actually deemed a success for their surgical complexity. Since then, liver transplant (LT) has evolve…
I took an oath when I graduated from medical school. The ancient, powerful words of the Hippocratic Oath are seared into the brain of every physician: “First, do no harm.” I, along with every physician who has come before me, hold myself to that standa…
The social media posts exhaust me. I see parents with colorful schedules for children to abide by during this pandemic and others who have made a zillion fabric masks to donate. Meanwhile, I’m trying to test the technology to see patients from my new …
On March 6, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provided a temporary waiver to expand telemedicine services, whose use was previously limited to specific circumstances. However, as the United States grapples with the unprecedente…
