Medical

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. The president has said others are tested before getting close to him, appearing to hold it as an…

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 colleagues across the country, are beside themselves. And all of this head-scratching and hand-wringing is because students went back to…

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 main problem at hand. It happens to all of us; we are all…

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 patient.  An infertility patient, for whom each passing year…

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 be too Q-Word-That-Must-Not-Be-Named. It should have some…

“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 family, and myself. I experience the fear of getting sick or losing a loved one and the…

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 long-term follow-up. This signified seeing her during monthly check-ups, scheduling her appointments with…

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 depression. He embodied the heights of achievement in his profession, and,…

“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 all needed shelter at one time or another in life if just to lay…