There’s no doubt that COVID-19 makes some people really, really sick. And it’s not all about age. Studies show that regardless of age, obesity is a major risk factor, along with obesity-related health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. Specialists feel that there are […]
Here in Massachusetts, the numbers are sloooowly improving. Per the MA Department of Public Health COVID-19 dashboard, here is where we are as of Sunday May 17: Here at my hospital, our COVID-19 admissions have come down to a reasonable simmer, with 246 inpatients, 75 […]
It’s a gorgeous spring day in May. Trees are flowering, flowers are flowering, and I can’t go a day without antihistamines. I suffer from springtime pollen allergies and asthma, common things that can cause congestion and a cough. This has been anxiety-provoking for me at […]
So, here I am in the office, which all but closed in mid-March. While we do have a skeleton crew on site seeing non-COVID-19 urgent care (like abrasions and UTI’s and joint pain), most our ongoing outpatient work is via telehealth. I’m going to talk […]
I was “activated” to duty on the inpatient COVID surge teams last week. I was worried, not only because it’s been a decade since I’ve been in charge of an inpatient service, but more so because SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus, and COVID19* is a […]
I got the email from my boss on Tuesday: “You are receiving this message because you have been scheduled to staff an inpatient COVID-19 surge team…” What followed was a really long, dense list of critically important logistical/ workflow/ orientation information, replete with links to […]
You guys may not know this, but up until this pandemic, primary care has been the runt of the medical litter. Like, if the different branches of medicine were a high school sitcom, outpatient internal medicine would be the dorky intellectual kid who everyone knows […]
I can’t imagine there’s anyone who doesn’t feel extra- anxious right now. If you’re feeling chill and happy and relaxed, then by all means, skip this post. For everyone else experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s pretty normal to feel stressed. But these natural negative emotions […]
This is a play-by-play of my day at work, during the pandemic. My alarm goes off at 5 a.m. I always get up extra-early for work, mostly because the T is variably reliable, and running late for clinic gives me palpitations. Better to avoid being […]
In the space of just a few weeks, multiple private COVID-19 subgroups have formed on Facebook, including a massive healthcare worker group with 250,000 members, a doctor-mom-only group with 30,000 members, a physician group of 20,000 members, and more. Colleagues from all over the world […]