Everything feels like it’s happening out of a movie, mostly because we’ve all seen it before. Pandemic, Outbreak, even World War Z. It has never felt real, until it became real. It became real when all of my friends from my pediatrics residency in New …
Viruses typically invade our bodies through an opening. Think gastrointestinal flu, COVID-19, AIDS. Our bones, however, are normally protected from any outside exposure, so they should be safe, right? The short answer is yes and no. Of course, knowledg…
I packed my bags to head home for spring break, excited for a week with family and friends—a rare opportunity to recharge during the first year of medical school. I headed straight to the airport after my neurology exam at the beginning of March, not r…
There is an old adage within the black community that says, “When White America catches a cold, Black America has pneumonia.” African American patients with COVID-19 are dying at a significantly higher rate compared to other races. These statistics are…
Months ago, it was in the distance. International hints of a contagion, a virus in China. We heard it all too many times, desensitized by the occasional threats, conspiracy theories, and Hollywood depictions. “It’s fiction. It could never happen to …
As chief resident of my rural Hawaii Island Family Medicine Residency program, I look back with our nation upon the past four months that turned our whole world topsy-turvey. At the start of this year, I remember when leaders of organizations, busines…
Throughout my years as a physician, I have had an abundance of moments of fear. Typically, this fear has been related to concern for my patients. A fetal bradycardia requiring an emergency Cesarean section, a postpartum woman hemorrhaging despite all f…
“Plagues are infrequent but constant, and they do not alter the conditions of mankind (everybody dies) but rather concentrate our misfortunes into moments where everyone thinks for a change that mortality is afoot.” – Albert Camus In …
Anecdotal though it may be, a team of Italian doctors and nurses, led by Dr. Luigi Cavanna, has reported apparent success treating COVID-19 patients in their homes. Realizing too many near-death patients were traveling long distances to the hospital em…
Times have definitely changed. In the month of March 2020, we have seen the global economy shut down almost completely. Businesses shut down. Travel stopped. Millions filing for unemployment. Crises that used to span out over months, now happen in the …
