Category: Infectious disease

Be careful when using preprint servers for medical research reports

The coronavirus pandemic posed unprecedented challenges and forced a shift towards an accelerated digital transformation. The COVID-19 public health emergency focused attention on timely dissemination and reporting of research findings, resulting in th…

The COVID-19 vaccine won’t solve major substance use disorder treatment gaps

As if COVID-19 weren’t bad enough during the pandemic, another public health crisis – substance use disorder (SUD) – has gone from bad to worse, while access to behavioral health services is shrinking. As of September, more than half (52%) of community…

Why COVID is so emotional for physicians [PODCAST]

“These encounters made my evening shift much more emotional than usual. I am still not sure what it was exactly that evoked such strong feelings of sadness. Was it having a patient who was a health care worker? Was it the rapidity in which all th…

Alone in the hospital in the midst of a global pandemic

I have never felt so alone. I was lying in bed with severe abdominal pain. Pain I never had before. Well, at least not for a reason. As I lay there, I kept thinking, what if I die while I wait until morning. It was the middle of the night. I had not fe…

Medical students deserve the COVID vaccine in the first phase of distribution

After nine months of death, despair, and fear, the one-two victory of Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine approvals is a major turning point for everyone in health care. Social media timelines suddenly sprang to life with vaccine selfies as besieged …

In case you need a reason to get the COVID vaccine, here are 12

I read somewhere that 30 percent of nurses were reluctant to get the COVID vaccine, but I didn’t think I would know any of that 30 percent. I was at work the other night when I realized that I was wrong. Newly vaccinated, I was talking to some of my nu…

Behind the scenes of a hospital’s COVID response [PODCAST]

“In the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic, getting a flu shot has never been more important. Many people are staying indoors, wearing a mask, and washing their hands frequently. In this environment, patients ask me, “With all this social distancing, d…

The week I tested positive for COVID, the vaccine arrived: a family doctor’s perspective

On Friday evenings, my family usually listens to my husband DJ music in the basement, streaming online on Twitch, and dancing along. During one of these nights, I went upstairs to check on my two girls and remembered to check online for my routine COVI…

Health care workers who are forgotten on the frontlines

Governor Cuomo showed New York and the world the importance of leadership and communication during a crisis. Ignoring this standard makes the information void surrounding the COVID vaccine roll-out even more upsetting. I represent 150 dedicated pediatr…

How can physicians convince Black patients to take the COVID-19 vaccine?

“How can we, as physicians, convince Black patients to take the COVID-19 vaccine?” my residency interviewer asked me, a Black fourth-year Johns Hopkins medical student. I paused. I couldn’t help but wonder if the interviewer had asked all of the other …