Category: Hospital-Based Medicine

After COVID-19, can we really stomach the minutiae that comes with the next Joint Commission review?

I’ve always been fascinated with dystopian novels and zombie movies.  When the apocalypse comes, we stop sweating the small stuff.  Important tasks like sculpting our abs or finding the perfect area rug suddenly take a back seat to the new primary dire…

Physicians on the frontline don’t have the luxury of fear

“Benadryl barely helped me sleep last night,” I groan to my partner. My eyes bloodshot, my head pounding as I recount the number of days I have needed to take a sleep aid this week. He hands me my lunch bag and locks the door to walk with me to work. T…

During the pandemic, a physician says: “Put me in, Coach”

I moved to Florida in the middle of my junior year of high school, which was right in the middle of the basketball season. I had only practiced with the new team a handful of times before the first game. I distinctly remember sitting on the bench in my…

The bittersweet post-COVID life for this physician

This week, I opened my planner and came across a list of my goals for Spring that I’d written back in early January: attend a Latin dance festival; get my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; travel. These sorts of activities open my mind, allowing me to …

The Intern: an excerpt from a novel

An excerpt from The Intern. Room 12 was at the west end of the pediatrics ward and to the right, at the far side of an alcove few patients ever entered—and none left. Maggie paused at the corner, reaching into the recess where the nurses stowed the foo…

What happens to health care workers after the coronavirus?

Webster’s Dictionary defines trauma as a “disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe emotional stress.” An article in MarketWatch describes the reality of a doctor after being on the frontlines in Wuhan for two month…

What it’s like to be a frontline physician with COVID-19 patient

It was the middle of March when I came back to my work shift. I got the news my floor would be COVID-19 floor that meant all patients coming to the ER with COVID-19 symptoms would be placed solely under my supervision. I was all ready for it — at least…

The individuals who inspire this resident physician in COVID-19 era

As a resident physician keen on academia and research, I have many doctors and scientists who I aspire to be more like. As a future-driven person, I am constantly awed by various inspirational, well-educated, and even better-poised men and women who ha…

Doctors shouldn’t feel ashamed for wanting to protect themselves or their family

A troubling type of social media post I’ve recently seen from providers (often not directly taking care of any COVID-19 patients) is one of excitement at the prospect for the medical community coming together to defeat this invisible foe. This mentalit…

The shift from a junior to a senior resident

For physicians, residency is the most critical time for growth in clinical and surgical skills, professionalism, and medical knowledge. Your residency training — for better or worse — shapes your future career as a physician. Your surgical technique, c…