Category: Infectious disease

If social distancing isn’t hard for you, you’re doing it wrong

I am not a germaphobe. I have never wiped a grocery cart handle before now. I don’t wear a mask during flu season in my office. I love for my kids to play in the dirt, and I welcome the daily exposures they have in our house, school, and life. I have t…

Fear and love in the time of a pandemic

Coronavirus, COVID-19, social distancing, quarantine, flatten the curve, wash your hands, do not touch your face: These are not terms that I am reading out of any of my of medical school books, these are terms that have become a reality for every house…

It is a dark day to be a doctor

It is a dark time to be a physician.  Yes, because of the global pandemic- watching our colleagues in other countries die, staring down the barrel of not enough ventilators, reading the New England Journal of Medicine’s paper on how to choose who gets …

COVID-19 and the toll on health care workers’ mental health      

It is well known that physicians are more likely to screen positive for depression and have higher rates of suicide than their counterparts in the general population. But how is this fact exacerbated by the global pandemic of fear, anxiety, and mountin…

People are ignoring social distancing guidelines. We must get it together.

I recently received a postcard in the mail titled “President Trump’s Coronavirus Guidelines for America.” The first of these recommendations is to follow the directions of my state and local authorities. In my community, notable restrictions on commerc…

The small practice primary care response to COVID-19

I am scared as I sit down to write about our journey as a small practice as we fight along with the rest of the world against the unthinkable force of nature in the form of a COVID-19 pandemic. My small primary care practice is only two years old. In a…

Being a doctor is not what it used to be

All my life, I’ve been told that I will have job security. No matter what, as a doctor, I will always have a job despite whatever may come. I have chosen one of the most stable and secure jobs that exist. But did I? Coming from a family of clinicians &…

A resident physician’s reflections on COVID-19

As I change out of my scrubs in the resident lounge bathroom, I am exhausted and numb. I put on sweatpants and a T-shirt, taking care of folding my scrubs to avoid touching the dirty spots. I wipe my phone and keys with an antibacterial and antiviral h…

In the midst of a global health crisis, USMLE Step 1 needs to be made pass/fail now

Every aspect of life has been affected by COVID-19, including medical education. Since March 17, medical schools across the nation have suspended clinical rotations, per guidelines from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The target en…

I put my role of doctor above my role of mom

Today, I put my role of doctor above my role of mom. Today, my physician husband and I made the difficult decision to send our daughter to live with my in-laws for the foreseeable future as we prepare to battle coronavirus in New York City. I am a pedi…