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In religion, the arts, and many forms of symbolic gesturalisation, rituals represent the values of a community. In medicine too, there are rituals: solemn moments deep with meaning, significance, and tradition. For most societies, rituals are transformative; a time for bonding, enhanced communication, and even gift-giving. It is during rituals that members of a community [Read More]
The COVID-19 pandemic is not over. If that sounds like news, it is. I am not fooled by the hundreds of people walking around my town without masks, nor by the now neglected practice of physical distancing. I am not fooled by the reassurances from Nursing Home directors and hospital administrators who say the virus [Read More]
There is an expression that there is light at the end of the tunnel. While this provides hope, the expression also means you are still in the tunnel, and therefore, your problems are not over. This is how it feels right now when I reflect on what we know and do not know about the [Read More]
I’m alone in the patient compartment of our rig, separated from my driver, who’s also an EMT. He can only hear me through the thick glass window. The ventilator fan is set on high, just like we were told to do after the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus a pandemic with fatal repercussions. We’ve [Read More]
On April 24, 2020, Medicine lost one of its great innovators and educators. Burton Rose passed away at the age of 77, a victim of SARS-CoV-21. A graduate of Princeton University, he went to Medical school at New York University and served on the faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Beth Israel Deaconess [Read More]
With the number of scientific articles about COVID-19 increasing, it seems we have entered a new era where our mantra must be “Reader Beware.” For reasons known only to their editorial boards, even reputed medical journals are falling prey to the temptation of publishing studies plagued with poor methodology, incomplete information, or conclusions that are [Read More]
Medical professionals are traditionally identified as purveyors of truth. In fact, truth-telling has become a cornerstone of doctor-patient relationships. In recent years, the patient’s right to autonomy seems to have trumped the doctor’s ethical obligations to beneficence and nonmaleficence1. In a recent Gallup poll2, nurses were considered the most trustworthy and ethical of all professionals [Read More]
We are deluged with information these days. A simple PubMed search of COVID-19 reveals 4806 articles published since January 1, 2020. Every medical society publishes guidelines, many of which contain information that is not evidence-based. Networks pummel us with supposedly expert commentary. Journalists become opinion leaders overnight, and a multitude of physicians educate us about [Read More]
Honesty, Respect, and Reassurance. These three cardinal rules for sharing bad news with children are worth remembering. Thankfully, kids don’t often get COVID-19. Less than 2.5% of cases are reported worldwide. When children are infected, they usually become only mildly ill, though asymptomatic infections are not uncommon1. In one study from the Wuhan Children’s Hospital, [Read More]
In Judeo-Christian tradition, this is a time for joy and celebration, whether to honor the resurrection of Jesus Christ or the liberation of the Hebrew people from bonds of oppression in ancient Egypt. Some say the word Easter comes from the Old English word ēostre. While the etymology is debated, some scholars associate this [Read More]