Category: Infectious disease

Opening up America for the sake of mental health

Fighting to protect the health of the economy and the health of the people are not mutually exclusive endeavors. In fact, they are strongly related. While COVID-19 does present a significant threat to the physical health of at-risk individuals, the shu…

It is unethical for the United States to send hydroxychloroquine to Brazil

Much controversy surrounds whether or not hydroxychloroquine is effective in preventing or treating infection with COVID-19. While much of the data so far suggests that hydroxychloroquine is not effective at treating COVID-19, and perhaps that it might…

How this physician incorporated medical students in COVID care

More than once, I have joked with my medical student leader that I look forward to the day when she will be my boss. I have mentored hundreds of health professions students over the past ten years. Teaching young thought leaders to address complex issu…

What’s next for medical students? The path is not so clear.

The evolving COVID-19 outbreak has generated concern for students across a variety of disciplines.  While some might believe the healthcare sector is protected in the setting of a pandemic, rising medical graduates are realizing they, too, are not immu…

The divorced physician parent in the time of COVID-19

I’d like to focus on a group that isn’t discussed much: the divorced health care parent.  With physician marriages ending at a rate of 24 percent and over 1 million physicians and 18 million health care workers in the U.S., this topic will undoubtedly …

Health care workers need policy changes, not just applause

While the COVID-19 pandemic has been straining our health care system, public support for health care workers has never been greater. Every evening for a few minutes, neighborhoods across the country erupt into enthusiastic cheering and instrumental no…

The health effects of a bad economy may be worse than COVID-19

Thinking that it was time to think about what sort of long-term mask I would like to procure to wear in public as the summer approaches, I got to thinking, what sort of mask defines me as a person? Is it the stagecoach robber triangular bandana? Is it …

Medical rationing in the age of COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic quickly moved across the nation this spring, state governments and health systems rushed to create or revise their crisis standards of care that contain medical rationing guidelines. In light of the crisis, how can we distribut…

Just what is the WHO and why does it matter?

As medical students with backgrounds in public health and global health care operations, we were shocked by the action on the part of the Trump administration to defund the World Health Organization (WHO). This decision undermines the global community&…

Protect our medical trainees during the pandemic [PODCAST]

“When I first heard about medical schools fast-tracking graduation for students and shifting young residents into high need areas to fight the pandemic of COVID-19, I thought of how panicked those students and residents must feel. Asking them to …