Category: KevinMD

The mysterious White House testing scheme that did not protect Trump

President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis is raising fresh questions about the White House’s strategy for testing and containing the virus for a president whose cavalier attitude about the coronavirus has persisted since it landed on American shores….

COVID-19 and the college experience

Everyone seems to be walking about in disbelief. College educators and administrators are shocked. Public health officials are incredulous. Politicians are confused, and news reporters are busily shaking their heads at the numbers. Physicians, my colle…

How to be an empathetic and compassionate communicator

One of the most annoying things for any professional, is to be face-to-face with the person you are serving—whether it be your customer, client, or patient—in the limited time available to you, and feel that your attention is being diverted from the ma…

Infertility as a physician: the gift of perspective

As physicians, we know all too well how life can change in an instant.  How tomorrow is never promised.  This knowledge can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it is also a gift. Because we know how precious life is. I am a physician—but I am also a patie…

How to (almost) never have a bad shift

Walking through the sliding glass doors at 10:55 p.m. on a Monday, I found myself wondering if it would be a good shift or a bad shift. In emergency medicine, a “good shift” has to strike many delicate balances. It can’t be too busy, but it also can’t …

COVID-19 through the eyes of my kids [PODCAST]

“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 …

Unmasking inequality: the power of community organization during COVID-19

In medical school, I was charged with caring for Ms. R, a 47-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and rheumatoid arthritis. She had been flagged as a high priority patient through the student-run free clinic (SRFC) and assigned to me for …

Addressing suicide is a shared burden across health care professions

Early on the morning of September 11th, 2017, already a solemn day for our nation, a light went out due to suicide. Our father, Patrick Vezeau, was an oral surgeon near the end of an accomplished career who quietly fought a lifelong battle with depress…

Shelter in the age of COVID

“Oh, a storm is threatening My very life today If I don’t get some shelter Ooh yeah, I’m gonna fade away.” -The Rolling Stones Shelter. It’s a safe-sounding word, a comforting word, a good ending to the story word. We have…

How the health care system fails to match its hype

No player received as much media-generated attention heading into Super Bowl LIV as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. All eyes were on him and, when it mattered most, the young signal-caller came through, bringing his team back from a 10-…