Category: Conditions

Pollution in China and Iran are worsening the coronavirus

The baffling spread of the novel coronavirus has given many scientists and policymakers pause. There may be some important clues in the patterns the disease is leaving that tell us quite a bit about what conditions can hasten its spread and even worsen…

COVID-19 is not a cause for panic. It is cause for action.

As many of my Facebook friends know, I have posted a great many updates about COVID-19, both public health recommendations and news updates, but this is my personal plea.  As a physician with a public health degree, looking at the data, looking at what…

Preventing depression in the wake of COVID-19

As I drove back home from the hospital yesterday, I noticed that traffic was lighter. Then tonight, as I walked my dog in the early evening, I cannot help but notice the lack of foot traffic, the relative emptiness of the street. There are others like …

In the midst of a pandemic, this nurse feels betrayed

This nurse notified his hospital unit director testing availability for novel coronavirus on January 26, 2020.  This nurse asked his hospital unit director if signs could be posted discouraging visitation unless necessary on March 10, 2020. The respons…

The medical basis of vampires

An excerpt from Of Plagues and Vampires: Believable Myths and Unbelievable Facts from Medical Practice. The concept of a vampire predates Bram Stoker’s tales of Count Dracula – probably by several centuries. But did vampires ever really exist? In…

COVID-19 is teaching us the value of vocation

“Suppose we did our work like the snow, quietly, quietly, leaving nothing out.” -Wendell Berry Greetings from the hospital. It’s a ghost town around here. The roads are empty. Shops are shuttered. Churches won’t be meeting for m…

Spare older anesthesiologists COVID-19 coronavirus risk

The COVID-19 pandemic has gripped modern medicine in unprecedented ways. As a young anesthesiologist, I am not as likely to suffer complications or die from COVID-19 compared to my older colleagues. Data from China and Korea report a 15 to 18 fold grea…

Coronavirus: The simple infographic guide to protect you and your community

Please print or share these graphics that can help educate the public on the do’s and don’ts of COVID-19 coronavirus. Courtesy of family physician Kevin Nguyen. (Please click to enlarge.)
Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousand…

As society shuts down, hospital workers continue to fight the pandemic

Collectively across our country, as society shuts down, physicians, along with our brave co-workers in the hospital, will be going to work to combat the largest pandemic we have seen in our lifetimes. While such a crisis frightens us all, it has also s…

COVID-19 social distancing is like bedrest

Did the picture above catch your attention? The large Pokemon bean bag belongs to my children. The other object is a plastic bag I made from plastic scraps. I know it’s weird, but I have embraced my off-kilter personality as Dr. Plastic Picker. O…