An excerpt from When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error. One of the selling points for the electronic medical record (EMR) was that it would be a boon for patient safety. Just having all the medical records in one place is a monumental improv…
I don’t presume to know the individual experiences and feelings of providers and frontline workers right now during this crisis, but, as someone who has specialized in psychological trauma and traumatic grief for many years, here are some thought…
“The reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in the comprehensive psychiatric emergency program (CPEP) began insidiously, with an initial sense of unease. Patients are brought into CPEP when they pose a danger to themselves or others. Often they are br…
COVID-19 essentially shut down my in-person primary care practice, and we immediately turned to telemedicine (“seeing” a patient virtually either through a phone or video-based visit). My primary care group did this out of necessity, but nobody predict…
COVID-19 has upended the medical community. Nowhere more so than in the intensive care unit. Life as an intensivist with two young children and a working spouse is never dull. I liken it to tight-rope walking with a pole for balance. I wake up every mo…
In writing this, I feel a bit strange to contribute my thoughts on a pandemic I’ve had mostly a peripheral experience with dealing first hand. In my brief month on the medicine ward, I did interact with a patient who then was tested positive for SARS-C…
I am as nervous about writing this as I was when I first started my YouTube channel. Let me take you back to when I first decided to pursue medicine; I was a senior in high school, deciding between international business school or a pre-med degree. I w…
“Over a period of about two years, our city experienced a very large influx of seniors. One nearby town grew by over five thousand people. This, in turn, created a surge of patients coming to the hospital. As most were older, they often had multi…
Whatever method you have been using for video conferences these days, we have had an unprecedented look into the lives of our colleagues, children’s schoolmates, teachers, professors, and even famous folks. While this pandemic has allowed the opportuni…
An excerpt adapted from Being Authentic: A Memoir. Our existence is fragile. I learned that in many intricate ways, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, so I do not take today for granted. I do not know what tomorrow will bring. I do not even know if tom…
