Category: Conditions

PPE policies must reflect the needs of frontline staff

Physicians are leaders.  As leaders, we are focused on how to ensure safety for our coworkers while also acknowledging a need for stewardship of scarce supply of resources, namely, personal protective equipment (PPE). I have a particular interest in th…

Words of courage for medical students and residents

About 15 years ago, I spent a few weeks at a small community hospital in Zambia, helping to staff the primary care clinic and attend some of the rounds on the small inpatient units there.  The inpatient pediatrics unit was full of young children suffer…

After the pandemic, telemedicine will be here to stay

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other health care providers (HCPs) transitioned their clinical practice to telemedicine in the last few weeks.  As recommendations from the Centers for Diseas…

Medical students are living life one day at a time during the pandemic

My friends’ weddings have been postponed, even my own cousin’s. Step 1 exam dates have been moved, much to the shock of many students I know. My brother’s third-year rotations have also been delayed, and the curriculum has unexpectedly changed from the…

The world is a scary place right now, and that’s OK

As a society, we are faced with levels of uncertainty that are unprecedented for our times. This tension and fear doesn’t discriminate and permeates every corner of the globe. People might compare the magnitude of this pandemic to events like 9/11 or H…

During the pandemic, doctors have to guide the public through the concept of risk

Going through medical training is an introduction to risk. My first real risk experience happened on a third-year medical rotation where I was following a gastrointestinal (GI) specialist. We were called to a code of a young man with AIDS and esophagea…

Messages convey wishes for strength in the age of coronavirus

On a Sunday, it started with a text to an old residency buddy. It started with a text to an old colleague. It started with a text to a current work friend. How are you? Thinking about you. How are you handling this volatile time? Are you ready to jump …

Messages convey wishes for strength in the age of coronavirus

On a Sunday, it started with a text to an old residency buddy. It started with a text to an old colleague. It started with a text to a current work friend. How are you? Thinking about you. How are you handling this volatile time? Are you ready to jump …

Heroism is a process for physicians

Was everyone in medical school as young, innocent, and wildly stupid as we were? The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine required superlatives: most, best, fastest … dumbest? Before each test, my friend Frank and I would scroll through ou…

A primer for those new to the world of telemedicine

I have previously written an article on telemedicine regarding its benefits and its potential value as a component of a successful patient practice. Given the current climate in the medical community due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this seemed to be an a…