Medical
The struggle of being a nurse is real
As I struggled my way through nursing school, I never expected my first job as a nurse to feel like this; I was too busy dreaming of the day when I could hold the title of registered nurse. I never expected to come home crying. I never expected that, at times, I’d mumble the words…
Read MoreThe impact of removing numerical scores from USMLE Step 1
I recall clearly the effect that the first step of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) had on my medical education. The test is generally taken at the end of the second year of medical school, about halfway through the 4-year curriculum. What made the test so important is that its result could effectively…
Read MoreThank you nurses, for rushing in when we need you most
Months ago, it was in the distance. International hints of a contagion, a virus in China. We heard it all too many times, desensitized by the occasional threats, conspiracy theories, and Hollywood depictions. “It’s fiction. It could never happen to us.” Fast forward to today, and it is staring us in the face with nostrils…
Read MoreAddressing the social isolation problem one step at a time
As chief resident of my rural Hawaii Island Family Medicine Residency program, I look back with our nation upon the past four months that turned our whole world topsy-turvey. At the start of this year, I remember when leaders of organizations, businesses, and churches started sharing their new “2020 visions” for a year of great hope…
Read MoreNot a staycation: Isolating at home affects our mental health (and what to do)
As a pediatrician and a parent navigating this pandemic, I worry sometimes that an important point gets lost in the midst of all the helpful posts about things to do with your children in cramped spaces, homeschooling, and other tips for managing the current reality: This is bad for the mental health of each and…
Read MoreCoping with fear as a physician during a pandemic
Throughout my years as a physician, I have had an abundance of moments of fear. Typically, this fear has been related to concern for my patients. A fetal bradycardia requiring an emergency Cesarean section, a postpartum woman hemorrhaging despite all first line medications and procedures, a woman with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and dropping hemoglobin.…
Read MoreThe collective consciousness of COVID-19
“Plagues are infrequent but constant, and they do not alter the conditions of mankind (everybody dies) but rather concentrate our misfortunes into moments where everyone thinks for a change that mortality is afoot.” – Albert Camus In Camus’ construct, there was no mass media or the internet, yet the fear of imminent death spread like…
Read MoreTreating COVID-19 patients in their homes
Anecdotal though it may be, a team of Italian doctors and nurses, led by Dr. Luigi Cavanna, has reported apparent success treating COVID-19 patients in their homes. Realizing too many near-death patients were traveling long distances to the hospital emergency room in Piacenza, Italy from their rural villages, Cavanna reasoned many of these patients might…
Read MoreThe importance of achieving FIRE for the physician in the age of COVID-19
Times have definitely changed. In the month of March 2020, we have seen the global economy shut down almost completely. Businesses shut down. Travel stopped. Millions filing for unemployment. Crises that used to span out over months, now happen in the time span of weeks to days. The rate of economic decline from COVID-19 is faster,…
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