Health care workers will face some very difficult decisions in the days ahead. The decision: Am I willing to take care of coronavirus patients without proper protection? This is a very personal dilemma. Everyone who goes into any part of medicine is t…
I hope we eventually study the COVID-19 event after a sober period of analysis and reflection as an example of a societal panic attack. This is not Ebola, with a mortality rate of over 50%, or even SARS, with a 10% death rate. We’ve seen this movie be…
In February, I had my first patient ask about my thoughts on the coronavirus. At that time, I was aware of the coronavirus and cautiously optimistic about the situation. My advice to the patient was to have a healthy level of concern about the virus, g…
One week ago, a mere glance at my phone between patients would have sufficiently caught me up on 30 minutes of disconnect from both social and mainstream media. Today, as I closed one virtual appointment and waited for my 9 o’clock follow-up to join me…
In 2009, when more than $35 billion was invested in expanding national electronic health record (EHR) uptake, one of many advantages touted was its value as a tool for managing population health. This promise has failed to materialize due to a chaotic …
I am a physician, and I am not isolating. Like the Vietnam War defined my parents’ generation and World War 2 defined the generation before that, the COVID-19 pandemic will likely define mine. My father and grandfathers went to battle – I am now call…
A few days ago, a good friend revived an email thread that routinely circulated among our social cohort of 17 aspiring doctors during our final two years of medical school. The subject line read: qThurs HH. Translation: happy hour every Thursday. Back …
The summer of 1979 is permanently etched into my memory. I walked into the intensive care unit as a newly minted intern. I walked over to ICU-Bed 1 to be introduced to my first patient, a frail teenaged boy who was tethered to a ventilator. “He is day …
As the United States faces enormous issues regarding the COVID-19 outbreak which has now impacted all 50 states, I would like to refer to a quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itse…
Physician burnout. Physician suicide awareness. Buzzwords. Words that get tossed around. People in leadership seem to be concerned about. Institutions say they care. “Solutions” get created. Solutions that look great on paper. Sometimes under the guis…
