My first possible COVID-19 case came nearly three weeks ago, before there were any cases in our city. He was a healthcare professional who presented with fever, sore throat, and cough. We did the usual strep and influenza testing, both negative, but I …
I’ve been telecommuting for two weeks, and I already feel like Bill Murray’s character in the film Groundhog Day. A college friend of mine had a term for this feeling—déjà movie. I ease into my day with the repetitive normalcy of feeding th…
I’m a third-year medical student, but my medical education, as I knew it, is currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stanford has pulled its students from hospitals and clinics for the time being, following recommendations from the Ass…
I am the director of critical care for a hospital. Five days ago I tested positive for COVID-19. I can’t know for certain where exactly I contracted the virus. But when my hospital admitted its first COVID-positive patient, I stayed until 3 a.m. to set…
I am a professor and cardiac anesthesiologist who practices at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Like the majority of health centers across the world, our leaders are working around the clock to treat COVID-19 in our communi…
I have been writing columns for physicians for twenty years. And year after year, I have had physicians say this: “I’m glad you said what you did. If I said it, I’d be fired.” There are variations on the theme, but they’r…
Infectious diseases have been a scourge of mankind since time immemorial. I am a keen reader of history, and anyone who does so, knows that infections have not only caused billions of deaths and untold suffering—but have also brought down kings, armies…
I am 64 years old. I was a nurse for 34 years, retiring a year, and three months ago, I worked on the medical-surgical floor, ICU, and the last 30 years, in the emergency room. I retired because I’d had enough. This year has changed me. My life n…
The novel coronavirus continues to rage through America, with the total cases standing at more than 210,000 and the death toll at over 5,000. It is without question that our seniors–those 65 years of age or older–will bear the brunt of the …
It was 2013. High-tech entrepreneurs were excitedly “disrupting” industries, bringing goods and services closer to users. Uber replaced cabs, Kickstarter replaced investors, and telehealth companies offered convenient, at-home medical care over smartph…
