Category: Infectious disease

The importance of staying humble in a pandemic

In a time where everyone is looking for answers, I see a lot of health care workers, pundits, sports figures, and talking heads presenting a lot of in-flux data as immutable fact. I’ve seen phrases like “If you go outside, you’ll kill your grandma,” an…

It’s scary as hell to be a doctor right now

I’m not gonna lie. It’s scary as hell to be a doctor right now. In Italy, which is our projected immediate future, up to 10 percent of infected people are health care workers. Health care workers are also more likely to experience severe and critical d…

How a pandemic may kill the handshake

My grandfather was a dedicated physician.  To me, he was the caring, attentive doctor depicted in the classic Norman Rockwell paintings.  He was a brilliant and religious man of few but powerful words who didn’t greet his patients with a handshake, but…

On the front lines of a COVID-19 assessment clinic

March 15, 2020. The luke-warm water burns my hands for a few seconds; maybe this is how a snowman feels as it disintegrates on the first day of spring. Soon, my fingers loosen, but the sensation is fleeting. I dry my hands, put on another pair of glove…

COVID-19: You may be bored, but others are scared

Earlier this morning, I received an email regarding a “quarantine party.” The event description read: “We are young people who don’t take this BS quarantine seriously. Let’s crowd in this condo and have a good time. I promise, you won’t get sick.” I am…

How to avoid COVID-19 Infection at work: tips from an infectious disease physician

The physician workforce is one of the most valuable resources of any hospital, and in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, we need to do everything possible to ensure that physicians stay healthy. Like other hospital epidemiologists, I spend a lot of ti…

The COVID-19 breakthroughs are coming

An excerpt from The Physician Inventor: The Doctor’s Handbook to Patenting Medical Devices and Methods. Recent New York Times articles document the growing concern that the United States will not have enough ventilators to fight the coronavirus pandemi…

A letter to President Trump from an emergency physician

Dear Mr. President, I write to you now to congratulate you. You are at the cusp of a moment that historians will note catapulted you into one of the great chapters of the American story. Your name will forever be listed among the great men of the ages….

COVID-19 and the physician’s oath

COVID-19 started to really hit home this week. I hadn’t been aware of its severity because, honestly, I was too busy balancing residency, being a husband, and a father to keep up to date on the daily news.  Now it’s unavoidable with school closures, tr…

On the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus has officially hit the United States. The estimated numbers of infected are likely a gross underestimate of the actual number of cases, as the U.S. has only tested a small proportion of the population. Researchers at Johns Hopkins estimate …