The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic brings to the fore many health system weaknesses that we always knew were there, but not too bothersome to be addressed. The media has focused on paid sick leave as a public health policy to permit infected workers to stay…
Black Americans are dying at disproportionate rates from COVID-19. In Chicago, nearly 70% of deaths involve black individuals, who comprise only 30% of the population. At a closer look, these deaths were initially concentrated in just five neighborhood…
There are two battles waging from the COVID-19 virus this year: the obvious fight for human life but also the attack on science. During philosophical and political debates, one steadfast weapon has been the scientific method. Opinion doesn’t matter. St…
Some images stick in the mind as unreal and incandescent things, despite their lived experience. My mind holds onto the gray-haired woman, stooped from age and wearing the hospital-issue facemask, standing alone with her hands clasped tightly behind he…
Living the surreal experience of the COVID-19 pandemic challenges us on multiple levels. As a physician, I feel the responsibility to understand the magnitude of the situation and implement the best measures to protect my patients, trainees, my family,…
There comes a day in every woman’s life when she must wonder: Where on earth have everyone’s manners gone? This phase of life, I once believed, was the same phase when I would shout things like: “You kids get off my lawn!” “Oh, it’s just a touch of gou…
I am overwhelmed right now. I know I am not alone. I hear it in the voices of my friends, family, colleagues, patients. We are all feeling it. I am overwhelmed by this virus. There is so much to learn, so much to teach. Every day the information change…
I am sitting on my living room floor, my back to the living room sofa, a sense of dread overcoming me as I realize that my call to 911 may be too late. I hear her muted voice with periodic pauses that allow her to catch her breath. All I can do is say,…
To suggest that the impact of the novel coronavirus has been nothing short of devastating – from a health perspective, to the economy, to basic social interaction – would be the most striking understatement of the decade. Daily media viewing over the …
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the structure of many people’s households has changed dramatically. Young adults who were away at college had to return home when schools closed, and many will still be at home this fall as schools continue to limi…
