Category: COVID-19 / coronavirus

COVID-19 is a time of coming to terms with meaning in our lives and tolerating uncertainty

Initially, after completing my master’s degree, I felt a bit lost. Being very busy, juggling different roles, focusing on areas of interest to the exclusion of other areas of life has long been my comfort zone. The stillness of having completed an inte…

Is COVID a turning point for sustainability in hospital supply chains? 

Scarcity has, in many ways, defined the COVID-19 experience in the U.S., from shortages in personal protective equipment to ICU ventilators and hospital capacity, to COVID test kits, to drugs like Remdesivir in hard-hit states. These shortages have add…

What it’s like to write about COVID-19 while it’s killing your mom [PODCAST]

“My mom was beyond vulnerable to the virus. May of 2020 marked two years since she’d become a nursing home resident—receiving care for several chronic illnesses. She died of failure to thrive due to Coronavirus 2019 on June 1, 2020, at the age of…

Reflections on caregiving from a nursing school dropout

My first—and last—clinical rotation was at a newly built nursing home attached to a community hospital near school. I didn’t have a car on campus, and hitched rides from classmates who were typically commuters with night jobs. They were a tougher, more…

The importance of rehabilitation in COVID-19 patients

COVID-19, first diagnosed in China in December 2019, has since spread across the world and affected over 37 million individuals. While most people infected with COVID-19 experience mild to moderate illness and recovery without the need for hospitalizat…

The inconvenient truth: We need to learn how to live with COVID-19 and here’s how

Since the small cluster of cases broke out in Wuhan, China nine months ago, the world has profoundly changed. With each passing moment, there seems to be a new COVID-19 milestone. 1 million deaths worldwide. 215,000 deaths in the United States. A White…

What are the limitations of COVID-19 testing?

COVID-19, first identified in December 2019 and declared a global pandemic in March 2020, has taken a toll on everyone around the world. After months of varying levels of lockdown and quarantine, people are developing pandemic fatigue, and craving huma…

COVID-19 will kill 500,000 Americans. Here’s why.

Among the questions I’m asked most often as host of the podcast Coronavirus: The Truth are: “How have other nations effectively contained the pandemic?” and “Why can’t the United States copy their success?” For months, health experts have answered thes…

COVID-19 anosmia: Unmasking a new dark “twist”

A 4-day-old term, formula-fed male infant with an uncomplicated prenatal course and no ABO set up or other identified cause of excessive jaundice was admitted to the hospital for phototherapy treatment of hyperbilirubinemia with a peak bilirubin of 19….

The impact of COVID-19 on resident burnout and how we can combat it

Despite the pervasiveness of mental illness and burnout among medical providers, only in the past decade have providers begun to acknowledge and explore the psychological distress so many struggle with. As a resident, I have observed how COVID-19 has f…