Category: Infectious disease

A guide for mental wellness while distancing: a psychiatrist’s perspective

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…

Would Medicare for all help us combat COVID-19?

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 emotionally

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…

Residency training in the time of COVID-19

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 …

Coronavirus: the human factor in intensive care

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 …

Fear paralysis in the world of COVID-19

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…

Raw thoughts from a critical care physician

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…

God bless us all and help us to destroy you, COVID-19

I, like many of my physician colleagues, nurses, and healthcare workers, have spent my entire adult life sacrificing everything to help others, trying to serve the sickest of the sick. However, for every patient I have saved, you have seemingly multipl…

Advice to employed physicians plunging into telemedicine

As we have literally overnight plunged into the world of telemedicine, I wanted to caution everyone to stop and think about something. As an avid telemedicine provider, I truly believe in helping support our patients and the public. However, if anyone …

Is centralized quarantine in our near future?

I want to make this simple so that politicians can understand. Our country will never survive this pandemic without centralized quarantine and widespread testing. This is not the flu, and our current policies and lack thereof will result in millions de…