“It is no secret that we started off combating COVID-19 with disadvantages. Lately, news is rampant with coverage of the paucity of ventilators, hospital beds, and N95 masks. But it is important not to forget the deficits in our workforce. Last y…
Category: Infectious disease
Extending lessons learned to a post pandemic world
Since COVID-19, the way that we practice medicine has changed. Every patient we see, test we order, and treatment we prescribe is under closer scrutiny. Direct patient interaction has been cut to the bare minimum. This has proved to be a challenge in m…
Hospital-based preparedness in the post-COVID era
COVID-19 has made the inadequacy of our public health and hospital-based health care system to identify, mitigate, and resolve pandemic disaster self-evident. Gaps in hospital-based preparedness capacity are abundant, including the inadequacy of stockp…
Ethical dilemmas in the pandemic era [PODCAST]
“The donation of hydroxychloroquine, in contrast to the accompanying donation of 1,000 ventilators, is unethical as either humanitarian aid or as a ‘research study.’ The United States has a moral responsibility for any human harm that…
The widowhood effect and COVID-19: What seniors need to know
The coronavirus has taken a major toll on virtually all aspects of our lives, especially for those of us who live in urban areas. As many others have rightfully pointed out, the dangers of the disease extend well beyond the physical complications cause…
How doctors can navigate the financial crisis [PODCAST]
“Out of the blue, a new virus popped up, and ten weeks later, it is a pandemic. Within the last ten weeks, doctors have identified this new disease, figured out how it is transmitted, identified what body fluid we need to test to determine who ha…
An unintended consequence of COVID universal masking
Spring 2020 has brought a disproportionate amount of grief for many of us. The losses include mortal ones, such as the death of a loved one, a colleague, or a patient. We’ve lost productivity, opportunities, and income. We’ve also lost freedoms, from t…
COVID-19 will set female leaders in STEM back for years
The scene is becoming far too familiar for so many of us. Hours and days in meetings, struggling to stay relevant in this new virtual workplace. Earphones anchored in, skillfully planning the “unmute” to avoid transmitting the sounds of sc…
How to make COVID-19 contact tracing work
Imagine answering a call from an unknown number. A stranger announces you may have been exposed to coronavirus; you may or may not get seriously ill, and either way, you have to isolate yourself for two weeks while everyone else carries on. What goes t…
A physician and her COVID-free island
I am a physician that was placed in a unique position. I was hired as a private contractor to work for three months in a remote medical setting on Wake Island. Wake Island is a remote island approximately 2000 miles west of Hawaii, with a population o…
