As the United States continues to navigate the coronavirus pandemic, I’ve rounded up links of relevant reading from around the web.
A State-by-State Coronavirus Tracker
“How many people have the coronavirus in your state, and how many people are being tested for it? The COVID Tracking Project
Read MoreAs a physician, listening is one of the most important parts of my job. I listen to patients that come into the ED to learn about what is troubling them, what is hurting them.
The world has changed drastically in the past few months between the global pandemic and calls for racial justice. In these two sweeping and ongoing events…
Read MoreIf anything has become clear from the coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, it is that a reckoning has come for racism in medicine. Below, I’ve compiled some of the things I’ve been reading…
Read MoreEach time I have sat down to compose a newsletter in 2020, I think of the things I shared in the previous month. So many times this year, it has felt as if the world in which those previous letters were written is now in many ways unrecognizable.
Between the spread of the coronavirus and calls for justice…
Read MoreAcross the United States, the racial divide among who is becoming infected with and dying from COVID-19 is impossible to ignore.
According to a report—the Color of Coronavirus—by AMP Research Lab, the COVID-19 mortality rate for Black Americans is 2.4 times higher than the rate for White Americans. And, the report notes, “In Arizona, the Indigenous mortality rate is more than five times
Read MoreFor the past few months, we’ve been apart. Even those of us isolating ourselves with our families are hurting, eager to see our friends and to reestablish in-person connections. This virus, in addition to the physical toll it takes on the body, has wrecked an emotional toll as well. Anything communal puts us at risk of infection. But community is a part of our humanity and a necessity for our emotional well being.
It’s time to start…
Read MoreArtists around the world continue to show support for frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past two months, I’ve shared some of my favorite images of celebration and appreciation.
Today, I’m sharing a third installment of this artwork inspired by healthcare workers caring for coronavirus patients, beautiful depictions of connection, acknowledgment, and support.
Read MoreThe month of May was Mental Health Awareness Month and, rightfully, many professionals began discussing the long term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the mental and emotional wellbeing of healthcare workers.
We are only now beginning to come to terms with…
Read MoreJune Greetings
The spring of this year has not been an easy one. We are collectively grieving so many different kinds of losses. Most significantly, 100,000 of our neighbors are gone.
Late last month, Meghan O’Rourke wrote a piece in The Atlantic about the trauma we are experiencing together…
Read MoreEach year in America on the last Monday in May, we honor and remember those who have died while serving in the military. On Memorial Day, we have the opportunity to commemorate and memorialize men and women who have lost their lives while serving their country.
This day is always important to me as a veteran…
Read MoreLast month, I shared a roundup of the many examples of artists using their skills to thank and celebrate healthcare workers tackling the coronavirus crisis.
Please enjoy this second installment of this artwork…
Read MoreThis year, Mother’s Day celebrations will look unlike the ones we’ve come to know and love. This will be my second Mother’s Day without my own mother since her death early last year. And almost all of us will be without our mothers physically as much of America continues to…
Read MoreOn March 11th, 2020, Kaila Colbin tweeted the following: “Here is the thing to understand about flattening the curve. It only works if we take necessary measures before they seem necessary. And if it works, people will think we overreacted. We have to be willing to look like we overreacted.”
Read MoreWe are living in truly extraordinary times. Feelings of despair are a natural response to the current state of the world. If you are anxious or sad, you are not alone.
I want to tell you that everything will be alright. But the truth is…
Read MoreThis unprecedented crisis is a frightening and challenging time for humanity as a whole, and no one understands this better than healthcare workers. Here are some ways you can support the man and women on the front lines of this pandemic:
One thing that has become abundantly clear as the coronavirus has spread across the globe is that, in addition to healthcare workers and sanitation employees and grocery store clerks and delivery drivers, we are turning to artists in this time of great need, as well.
Read MoreWhen once I’d have written expressing my wishes that you were happily celebrating spring alongside your loved ones, I now wish two things for you in this period of isolation—health and hope.
This is a time of incredible uncertainty. We don’t know…
Read MorePublished last year, Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy suggests that meaningfulness and connection can be magnified in our lives through engaging with our communities and the spaces we live. To do that, she asks us to…
Read MoreFollow the links to learn more about the lives and careers of some inspiring and influential women in medicine:
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African-American woman in the United States to earn a medical degree and become a doctor.
Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was a pioneer in the studies of
Read MoreLast summer, Brigid Schulte wrote a piece for The Guardian called A woman's greatest enemy? A lack of time to herself. In the piece—which resonated with many, many women—Schulte laments that, for many of us, the greatest obstacle to deep thinking and deep creativity is…
Read More
