The coronavirus has certainly served to manifest our shared humanity and vulnerability. As parents, many of us are facing substantial challenges in providing for our families, as we struggle to help our children with their schoolwork, all the while ho…
An excerpt from The Intern. Room 12 was at the west end of the pediatrics ward and to the right, at the far side of an alcove few patients ever entered—and none left. Maggie paused at the corner, reaching into the recess where the nurses stowed the foo…
Everything feels like it’s happening out of a movie, mostly because we’ve all seen it before. Pandemic, Outbreak, even World War Z. It has never felt real, until it became real. It became real when all of my friends from my pediatrics residency in New …
The social media posts exhaust me. I see parents with colorful schedules for children to abide by during this pandemic and others who have made a zillion fabric masks to donate. Meanwhile, I’m trying to test the technology to see patients from my new …
Being a parent in the middle of a pandemic is not easy. Sheltering in place with canceled daycare, school, and college, while also being a doctor or other healthcare worker, working in high-risk, high-intensity situations, presents many challenges. It…
It’s the high five I’m unable to give to that five-year-old patient after I check his red throat. It’s the song I can’t sing while I look into a toddler’s ears as they cling to their momma’s neck. It’s the hug I can’t give the mom who just lost her fat…
Despite four years of medical school, three years of residency, and over a decade in practice, I was never taught the profound connection between high childhood stress and increased risk of chronic disease. It was at a community event sponsored by our …
The coronavirus epidemic has proven to be a very challenging time for all of us. However, we must never forget the commitment which health care professionals demonstrate every day in caring for our communities, especially during such times of dire nee…
As I write this, hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes, gloves, and masks are sold out everywhere in the panic over COVID-19. People are writing about increased anxiety, and mental health professionals cite a massive surge in requests for help. Go anywh…
I am a pediatrician. Daily I see kids with fevers and coughs who test negative for influenza. Some have pneumonia. I am not able to test them for SARS-CoV2, so I encourage them to self-quarantine. If I find nothing else, I tell them they have a viral i…
