Category: Infectious disease

The trouble with medical experts

In early February, I was on my family medicine rotation. This was around Chinese New Year, when many East Asians travel extensively. The hospital I worked in serves a large Chinese community, and rumors about a new pneumonia emerging out of Wuhan, Chin…

Maternity leave in a post-COVID world

I am a female surgical resident. I signed up for this. I chose four years of medical school, five years of residency, two years of research, a year of fellowship, and finally attending surgeon life. I’d choose it again. And I want this road to be hard….

I am an ICU nurse. We are drowning.

I am an ICU nurse. I love what I do; It’s not just a career: It’s who I am. No other job could offer me the intimate opportunity to support and guide a total stranger through the worst (and occasionally best) days of their life. Nowhere els…

Lorna Breen was the quintessential canary in the coal mine

Dr. Lorna Breen, who died by suicide on April 26, was the canary in the coal mine. You can see it in her eyes, and in her smile. I didn’t know her, but I’ll bet she sang. One of her causes was successful communication with autistic patients…

Where’s the big COVID data?

The United States has been the most impacted country in the current COVID-19 crisis. Is COVID, the only common denominator? What else is common to the over 100,000 deaths in the United States, who is collecting and analyzing the death data comprehensiv…

Coronavirus is an elusive enigma

How did coronavirus become so widespread? By the time Dr. Zhang Jixian first reported the cases, it is thought that 180 patients were already infected. The problem with this is that SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19, presents in many diffe…

The economics of primary care in a COVID-19 world

Much has been written about the response of the governmental agencies in the foreseeability of COVID-19 spread and management in the United States. Travel restriction from mainland China seemed to be a very timely intervention. However, instead of cons…

During the pandemic, faith keeps us together [PODCAST]

Thank you for listening to the podcast. There were some audio difficulties during this interview, which I hope you can overlook. It certainly does not take away from Dr. Syed’s message and her wonderful interview. “An essential part of dail…

How CRISPR technology can solve our COVID-19 testing problems

To contain COVID-19 and re-open the economy, the U.S. should be performing 500,000 tests per day. We are nowhere near that number. Widespread implementation of CRISPR-based testing would address deficits in the current testing landscape. The most commo…

Health care workers in the time of COVID: reluctant superheroes?

Invisible and unassuming, the radioactive spider slowly descends from the ceiling, and before he knows it, Peter Parker’s life has changed forever. With that one bite, he is transformed from a normal man into a reluctant superhero. Only, that inf…