March, April and May are still somewhat of a blur. I was working both in inpatient and outpatient care and all I saw was COVID-19. June came and things were better. Because of a significant drop in COVID-19 patient numbers, I was, thankfully, no longer needed to work in the hospital. The outpatient clinic was
To the Freedom Fighters of the Civil Rights Movement and President Lyndon Johnson: Thank you. Your courageous actions made my life possible. I reap the benefits of your valiant labor, 55 years later. You played a role in ending the race-based immigration quota system, enshrined by Congress’s passage of the Immigration Act of 1917 — effectively
This is the final installment of Dr. Asha Shajahan’s essay series on being a healthcare worker during a pandemic. Read the first, second and third installments. Day Nine: Gratitude Social distancing was getting to me and I was craving to go out to dinner with friends to my favorite Italian restaurant for some quality carbonara. I
This is the third installment of Dr. Asha Shajahan’s essay series on being a healthcare worker during a pandemic. Read the first and second. Day Seven: My Off Day When the pandemic started, before I was pulled to work the COVID-19 inpatient unit, I spent three days a week volunteering at a homeless shelter. I
This is the second installment of Dr. Asha Shajahan’s essay series on being a healthcare worker during a pandemic. Read the first part here. Day 4: The Economic Impact of COVID-19 The Emergency Command Center of the hospital had good news; the patient census was going down. The number of discharges and successful weans off the
This is the first installment of Dr. Asha Shajahan’s essay series on being a healthcare worker during a pandemic. Day One: Superheroes I left home nervously for my first COVID-19 unit shift. I had seen COVID-19 patients in my outpatient office and also seen homeless patients on the streets, but this was different. These patients
I walked into the examining room and she had her face buried in her hands. She looked up at me with her tear filled eyes and said, “Doctor, I’m scared.” I see the fear in her eyes and in many patients seen since COVID-19 has hit. Her reaction is warranted. These are unprecedented times, and
Walking down the aisle of my local grocery store, I noticed that they were out of paper towels, masks, and antibacterial wipes. Just like with H1N1, SARS and MERS, the panic has started. Is there really a reason to be frightened here in the U.S. or is this all hype? Here’s the real talk. Coronavirus
It looks like a flash drive and can be charged in a USB port, but it’s not a data storage device. Instead, it delivers high levels of nicotine, making the product extremely addictive. Vaping rates have surged among teens. In 2018, a national tobacco youth survey found that over 3.6 million middle school and high
I walked outside the neurologist’s office of the renowned institution where I had just been told of the devastating diagnosis for my mother. After explaining her condition to me in a low-lit, sterile examining room, the eyes of his training residents on me, he said, “You can give her the diagnosis in a way she