On December 31, 2019, the world changed as we knew it, but the future implications for the United States were not apparent at the time. On that day, the World Health Organization (WHO) China Country Office was informed of new cases of “pneumonia …
Category: KevinMD
COVID-19: Test medical students, accelerate the Match, and let us graduate early to join the fight
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) makes its way across the country and globe, I have been thinking about how we fourth-year medical students fit into the picture. Not quite out one door, yet not quite in the other, our liminal perspective is liable …
It’s time to stop treating suffering like a necessary rite of passage
Once, when I was a senior resident covering a busy trauma service at a county hospital, I was on call for nine days in a row while my co-chief had an uncovered vacation. It was July, and we were all — interns, junior residents, and me — new…
A plea from an emergency physician on the front lines
Our lives are quickly changing. Schools are closing; sports are being canceled; people are working from home, Disneyland is closing, toilet paper is in short supply. We are about to hit a real struggle with our health care system. We are about to hit a…
Proper endings like this feel right
He was a logical man. A northeast Ohio man. Who worked all his life and worked hard. I can see it in his hands. They are entirely calloused with traces of grease impervious even to pumice soap. A family man. His wife and sons and daughters are at bedsi…
How can you determine a Caribbean medical school’s quality?
If you open Google and do a search for “Caribbean medical schools,” it will quickly become clear to you that not everyone is a fan, but just because something doesn’t work for one person doesn’t necessarily mean it hasn’t worked for hundreds. Establish…
How to manage the transitions of your day
Three months ago I got a Peloton bike. Overnight I went from a boring, 30 minute, mildly aerobic grind on an elliptical while listening to podcasts to getting my rear end handed to me by Peloton instructors, all in recorded classes I take on demand. Ye…
Prevent the spread of COVID-19 with telemdicine
I am a board-certified internal medicine physician practicing in a small outpatient clinic with a highly reputable academic organization in the greater Boston area. Regarding COVID-19, I am not panicked, but I am concerned– concerned for our pat…
Prevent the spread of COVID-19 with telemdicine
I am a board-certified internal medicine physician practicing in a small outpatient clinic with a highly reputable academic organization in the greater Boston area. Regarding COVID-19, I am not panicked, but I am concerned– concerned for our pat…
An ER physician’s advice to the general public: How to flatten the curve
Some advice as an emergency physician, daughter, mother, and concerned citizen. Help keep older relatives and neighbors self-quarantined at home. Same goes for those of any age who are immune-compromised (cancer-patients, on immune-suppressant meds for…
