Medical

“I think I’m having a stroke.” The words struggled to leave my mouth as I spoke to the 9-1-1 operator. Emotionally in disbelief, the words seemed so unusual to say in the first person. Ten minutes earlier, overwhelming nausea and drenching sweats woke me abruptly from sleep. Thinking it was something I ate, I immediately…

Just about every single one of us is spending too much time in front of a screen these days. Many, if not most, of us are spending most of our days on one — including, unfortunately, our children. Hindsight is 20/20, of course. When the pandemic began a year ago, we had no way of…

It’s been almost a year since nursing home workers began fighting on the front lines of COVID-19. They’ve witnessed and experienced extreme trauma. They’ve seen seniors they care for suffer in fear and loneliness during prolonged and repeated lockdowns.  They’ve seen residents fall catastrophically ill and too many of them die. More than 17,000 seniors are…

“How is she? What happened?” – a family member asks me anxiously over the phone. I pause and proceed cautiously. “What is your understanding – “ I am cut off. “Just tell me what happened.” Again, I pause. “I am very sorry sir, and I am sad to say that your wife has unfortunately passed…

“The peer-review process is fallible, slow, and biased, and it takes advantage of the scientific community’s altruism. We need to keep pushing the conversation forward about making publishing more equitable, timely, accessible, and fair. An obvious and easy way to begin is to pay the experts who perform the peer reviews. Either the journals need…

In the past year, the United States has faced compounding challenges as it struggled to control the COVID-19 pandemic and grappled with significant civil unrest. The American pandemic response has been primarily determined by the guidance—or lack thereof—of elected officials and enacted policies at the local, state, and federal levels. Now, with the development of…

I love metaphors. I think they can be so powerful and can convey so much, sometimes with just a few words. One metaphor we use in coaching to describe the coach’s role in a session with their client is that of a swimming pool. The client is in the swimming pool, and as the coach…

During a casual scroll through social media, I often hear the voice of my friend and fellow pediatrician warning, “Do not engage!” Generally speaking, this is almost always the correct advice. The rise of various social media platforms, the ability to rapidly share information and disinformation, the growing culture of doing one’s own “research,” and…

As the pandemic rages on, it’s increasingly clear that widespread vaccination is essential to help contain it. Physical distancing, universal face coverings, and frequent handwashing are effective, but not foolproof. And of course, these measures don’t work if they are not followed. So, the rapid development of mRNA vaccines and other vaccines to prevent COVID-19…