My colleagues are nervous. My patients are crying. And yet, we are here.

Here are latest COVID-19 coronavirus stories you missed on KevinMD. Thank you for your continuing readership. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ --------------------------------------------------------------- Here are latest COVID-19 coronavirus stories you missed on KevinMD. Thank you for your continuing readership. --------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by Careers by KevinMD.com [Infectious disease physician](. Full scope practice. Approximately 80% inpatient & 20% outpatient. Dedicated nurse practitioner who helps with inpatient and outpatient follow-up. [Referral base spans three states](. [Primary care physicians](. Physician-led, multi-specialty group. Brand new, state-of-the-art 41,000 square foot medical village. Collaborative, team-based care environment. [No call coverage](. --------------------------------------------------------------- KevinMD Plus: Mar 28, 2020 [My colleagues are nervous. My patients are crying. And yet, we are here.]( Do you remember when you were a bright-eyed pre-med student, head bowed at the computer, typing your personal statement? Type, type … backspace, backspace … type. You didn’t want to use the phrase “to help people” in your statement as your reason for wanting to be a physician. Maybe you said something like me. I […] [Coronavirus made simple by your friendly neighborhood emergency physician]( I have been answering a bunch of questions about this virus. There is a lot of confusion, and there are a few questions that I seem to hear over and over. So, here is a simple primer. 1. Why is personal distance of 6 feet a thing? The measles virus can be spread through the […] [In the midst of a pandemic, remember that physician practices are small businesses too]( These days are getting harder. Today I heard about physicians getting intubated. I heard about physicians having to make the decision to separate from their children indefinitely. I heard about health care workers who officially ran out of PPE. I heard of hospitals that are nearing capacity and many young patients who are intubated. The […] [A guide for mental wellness while distancing: a psychiatrist’s perspective]( One week ago, a mere glance at my phone between patients would have sufficiently caught me up on 30 minutes of disconnect from both social and mainstream media. Today, as I closed one virtual appointment and waited for my 9 o’clock follow-up to join me on-line, I was met with 16 texts, 148 WhatsApp messages, […] [The hospital census calm before the COVID-19 storm]( I’m a proud member of our hospital’s Jewish All-Star team, which means I work every Christmas. One great thing about working Christmas is the hospital is never full. No one wants to be hospitalized on Christmas. If patients can go home, they do, sometimes even against medical advice. On top of that, there are no […] [Living at the top of our humanity: a patient’s plea]( I often hear professionals talking about “working at the top of their license” – contributing their highest skills according to their training. To overcome this pandemic, now more than ever, every single one of us will need to work and live at the top of our humanity. Patients, families, nurses, doctors, front desk staff, administrators, […] [Coronavirus has slowly but surely made its way to Middle America]( Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has slowly but surely made its way to Middle America, stowing away on well-meaning citizens who have traveled to the coasts or overseas for one reason or another. It has sneakily hitchhiked its way into Creighton University basketball games, pub crawls, and several area Walmarts. A few patients have been seriously ill, […] [Coronavirus is a crisis. And an opportunity.]( I’m bombarded with emails of rapidly changing policies to prevent infections and identify COVID-19 patients (in the course of writing this, I’ve already received three more emails), I’m having a hard time finding masks because the nurses are hoarding them in some corner or taking them home, I feel regret for previously telling friends when […] [Life on the front lines and surviving the emergency department (with the help of social media)]( In the midst of a global pandemic, COVID-19 has forced all involved with patient care to be innovative and adaptive. Deployed as an emergency department (ED) physician, on the front lines of medicine, my team and I work tirelessly to take care of and research the COVID-19 patient. I have seen COVID-19, and I have […] [To my surgical colleagues: Please do the right thing]( As an anesthesiologist, the odds are I might get to work thirty minutes or an hour before you to prepare for the case or cases which you will perform that day. No matter what the procedure is, I am prepared for the worst possible scenario. This includes emergency drugs and an intubation plan, even if […] [Amid COVID-19, please USMLE Step 1 pass/fail now]( COVID-19 continues to require unprecedented disruptions to medical education. On March 17, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and Liaison Committee on Medical Education recommended that medical schools release all students from clinical duties for two weeks. This effort will both decrease the risk of exposure for students and relieve stretched-thin residents of teaching responsibilities. […] [How a pandemic may kill the handshake]( My grandfather was a dedicated physician. To me, he was the caring, attentive doctor depicted in the classic Norman Rockwell paintings. He was a brilliant and religious man of few but powerful words who didn’t greet his patients with a handshake, but yet he was loved by so many. He also happens to be the […] [The importance of staying humble in a pandemic]( In a time where everyone is looking for answers, I see a lot of health care workers, pundits, sports figures, and talking heads presenting a lot of in-flux data as immutable fact. I’ve seen phrases like “If you go outside, you’ll kill your grandma,” and “Going out to get groceries makes you part of the […] [Corona together: Say “I love you” a little bit more to those you love]( This breath is a gift … This moment is a gift … This life is a gift … As with every other person, I am struggling to comprehend the staggering effects that COVID-19 has had on our society in such a short time. Gone are the carefree smiles, the uncomplicated daily lives, and the thought […] [A letter to politicians: Doctors without PPE is deplorable and must be fixed]( I am a pediatrician. Daily I see kids with fevers and coughs who test negative for influenza. Some have pneumonia. I am not able to test them for SARS-CoV2, so I encourage them to self-quarantine. If I find nothing else, I tell them they have a viral illness. They ask me if it’s “the coronavirus,” […] [Practice social distancing so we can #flattenthecurve]( Right now, we are all afraid. We’re all afraid of something called COVID-19. Grocery store shelves are empty. People are fighting over toilet paper rolls. It’s beginning to look a little like Armageddon. You’ve seen the photos, heard the stories, watched the news coverage. COVID-19 is real. It’s real, and the incredible infectivity of it […] [COVID-19 policy amendments put nursing home residents at risk]( Early data from China and Italy shows that the outbreak disproportionately kills older adults. The rapid spread of these infections in the United States has triggered informal and formal efforts to protect frail and vulnerable populations like those in nursing homes. Informal recommendations like social distancing have greatly changed the day-to-day lives of most Americans […] [Why this immunocompromised doctor wants you to stay home]( I am a middle-aged gastroenterologist almost 15 years out of training. I have a chronic medical disease and had a bout with lymphoma two years ago, both of which require me to stay indefinitely on immunosuppressive drugs. I am certainly not the only health care worker who is scared. Most winters that I will contract […] [Use COVID-19 as a catalyst to banish burnout]( “I believe that the most important single thing, beyond discipline and creativity is daring to dare.” – Maya Angelou Are you sheltering in place, while your practice has slowed down, and non-essential procedures and surgeries are postponed? If so, you’re probably worrying about what’s going to happen when people are out again. While the activity […] [COVID-19 has us on our knees]( We are in a bizarre state of limbo within the crisis. We feel hopelessly behind, yet still attempt courageous efforts to be preemptive. My residency program, for example, had a fantasy of identifying which services were essential and which were not, staffing physicians appropriately, and staggering work hours to minimize exposure and allow others to […] [Is centralized quarantine in our near future?]( I want to make this simple so that politicians can understand. Our country will never survive this pandemic without centralized quarantine and widespread testing. This is not the flu, and our current policies and lack thereof will result in millions dead and economic disaster. What is centralized quarantine? Every person who is tested positive must […] [Advice to employed physicians plunging into telemedicine]( As we have literally overnight plunged into the world of telemedicine, I wanted to caution everyone to stop and think about something. As an avid telemedicine provider, I truly believe in helping support our patients and the public. However, if anyone is an employed physician or medical provider, please keep reading. If your practice did […] [Raw thoughts from a critical care physician]( Physician burnout. Physician suicide awareness. Buzzwords. Words that get tossed around. People in leadership seem to be concerned about. Institutions say they care. “Solutions” get created. Solutions that look great on paper. Sometimes under the guise of the employee assistance program. The brochure says we care about your mental and emotional health. We get that […] [Fear paralysis in the world of COVID-19]( As the United States faces enormous issues regarding the COVID-19 outbreak which has now impacted all 50 states, I would like to refer to a quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into […] [Coronavirus: the human factor in intensive care]( The summer of 1979 is permanently etched into my memory. I walked into the intensive care unit as a newly minted intern. I walked over to ICU-Bed 1 to be introduced to my first patient, a frail teenaged boy who was tethered to a ventilator. “He is day 30 with respiratory failure from disseminated coccidioidomycosis,” […] [Residency training in the time of COVID-19]( A few days ago, a good friend revived an email thread that routinely circulated among our social cohort of 17 aspiring doctors during our final two years of medical school. The subject line read: qThurs HH. Translation: happy hour every Thursday. Back then, the goal of the email was to establish a standing opportunity for any available recipients […] [Would Medicare for all help us combat COVID-19?]( In 2009, when more than $35 billion was invested in expanding national electronic health record (EHR) uptake, one of many advantages touted was its value as a tool for managing population health. This promise has failed to materialize due to a chaotic rollout of non-communicating systems. Today, as we confront COVID-19, the coronavirus wreaking international […] --------------------------------------------------------------- If a friend sent you this email and you want to subscribe, go to [KevinMD](. --------------------------------------------------------------- 345 Hudson Street New York NY 10014 USA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](