Medical

Two-paged signouts This was the picture of the unusually higher than normal patient load we have in the wards. The hospital looked grim and eerie. Gone were the days when we would start with morning report and see plastered smiles on colleagues’ faces, relaxed and ready to conquer the day. I saw patients without visitors.…

I look at the mirror at a tired naked face as I don my surgical mask over my hijab with my makeshift tie to keep my mask on since I can’t tie them on my ears. My kids at home are doing their remote learning, like many other kids around the world. Will I be…

Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd. We speak their names out when they no longer can. As a medical student, I have learned and recognized the many prejudices underlying our healthcare system against persons of color. Racism runs rampant in hospitals and clinics – places that are meant to heal, not to hurt. Black patients,…

In the world of pediatrics, my colleagues and I remain vigilant about the threat of coronavirus to children. Every week, we learn more information about new presentations of COVID-19, such as novel inflammatory syndromes. Still, I am hopeful that with supportive home care, good infection control practices, and access to high-quality health care when needed, we…

Health care workers need to start talking about white people killing black people, and here’s why: every victim of racial violence will be seen by a health care professional at or near the time of the event. We in the health care community are often the first people called to the aftermath of these crimes, and…

I went through the five stages of grief when we lost our wedding to COVID-19. The denial: “I’m sure this will be over by summer.” The anger: “This is so unfair! I’ve planned this for two years.” The bargaining: “We’ll just push it back to July, no need to go further. That’ll be fine, right?”…

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 improvement over the days of lost charts and misplaced X-rays.…

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 thoughts which might be helpful for some. Experiencing the unfathomable and enormity of devastating loss generates many…

“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 brought by police, but occasionally they come on their own or with concerned family members. CPEP is…