Medical

As the world reels from illnesses and deaths due to COVID-19, the race is on for a safe, effective, long-lasting vaccine to help the body block the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The three vaccine approaches discussed here are among the first to be tested clinically in the United States. How vaccines induce immunity: The starting line…

Burnout is a huge problem in medicine. There are a lot of reasons for that, the most commonly cited of which are overwhelming bureaucracy and administration work and perceived under-compensation. Many doctors say the same thing: “I just want to take care of patients, but all of this stuff gets in the way.” I think…

Public health safety measures in the wake of COVID-19 have transformed healthcare into virtual medicine overnight.  From psychiatry to surgery, all of the medical specialties have adapted technology-enabled virtual appointments.  The support for healthcare providers has been pervasive in the past few weeks-from celebrity shout outs to presidential gratitude.  It certainly is a daunting time…

“Was I that different? I had severe anxiety necessitating medication, compounded by stress, my own narcissistic tendencies, and a series of life choices—but Jason had something much worse. It all gave me pause. I was now twenty-four, just barely older than Jason when the committee took residence. Would I soon begin hearing voices as well?…

As a nurse practitioner, I have the privilege of helping people achieve their health care goals. But in light of recent events surrounding social justice, I find that I am increasingly challenged in new ways. Ways that my training and likely other nursing or medical schools did not address. I have that uncomfortable feeling of…

My mom was beyond vulnerable to the virus. May of 2020 marked two years since she’d become a nursing home resident—receiving care for several chronic illnesses. She died of failure to thrive due to Coronavirus 2019 on June 1, 2020, at the age of 75. As her oldest child, her health care proxy, and a…

It seems that adults need to be reminded and educated of the dangers life-threatening food allergies possess. If you think taunting people that have life-threatening food allergies occur only with very young children, you would be sadly mistaken. Case in point, comedian Jimmy Fallon’s in his recent sketch “Masculine Man Masks Commercial” states that his…

People with a penicillin allergy on their medical record are not given penicillins (or often their relatives the cephalosporins) when they have infections. Instead, the antibiotics prescribed may be broader-spectrum, less effective, and/or more toxic. Penicillin alternatives may be less effective or more toxic One recent national study from more than 100 US hospitals with…

The COVID pandemic has revealed chasms between health care delivery system tectonic plates, revealing disparities of care and treatment of people of color and underrepresented groups. I write this from my own feminine perspective in hopes of cultural change. We have to start with us, the doctors and other health care workers. We have to…