Correna is full of simplistic Henny Youngman-type one-liners (many of you readers, I understand, may never have heard of the comic, Henny Youngman, but no matter). But her one-liners are not particularly funny. She might say as we drive along, “I…
Category: Conditions
How COVID-19 affects this family physician at work and at home
I am sitting at my kitchen table. To my right is my daughter, 9; to my left, my son, 11. They are drawing, reading, doing work that their teachers have diligently sent electronically. Between quiet stretches and fighting between my kids, I try to keep …
A physician’s letter to coronavirus
I hate to say this, but you were right. We hadn’t come across something such as yourself, at least in our lifetime. Young, old, retired, or working—you were an entirely new beast to us. You had the world turned on its head in a matter of months and beg…
We don’t talk in terms of supply numbers. We talk in terms of days.
Brown paper bags line the windowsill of the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Eskenazi Hospital in downtown Indianapolis. The bags are filled with the N95 masks we’re reusing, labeled with the handwritten names of my staff: Patrick, Angela, Brittan…
A thank you to emergency physicians
I want to write a letter of thanks for all the sacrifices you have made for our nation during this COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for all the lives you have saved. Thank you for fighting to save all the lives that were lost. Thank you for leaving your ho…
A thank you to emergency physicians
I want to write a letter of thanks for all the sacrifices you have made for our nation during this COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for all the lives you have saved. Thank you for fighting to save all the lives that were lost. Thank you for leaving your ho…
How the lack of coronavirus testing impacts primary care
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 …
The crisis after COVID-19: Why doctors won’t get treatment
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…
Even with education on hold, medical students still contribute
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…
We’re buying masks and gowns with clinicians’ health. We need to stop.
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…
