It is the last work day! One of the attendings did not show up so me and another attending split the patients of the floor between us and rounded on all of them. Thank God for residency training that prepares you to deal with increased workloads.
One of the hard parts of COVID-19 care is wearing the P95 mask, face shield, gown and gloves for the hours spent in patients' rooms. However, I have to say that compared to the heat of Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak, this is not bad at all.
The day was pretty much the same as the previous ones. One 73 year old admitted to another team a few days ago and on whom I rounded yesterday is actively dying. She had made it clear before that she did not want to be intubated. Her blood pressure fell and she is on BiPaP (at the time of this writing). I anticipate that she may die before the shift is over at 8 pm.
So the COVID-19 week in NYC is over. All that is left is to travel back to Buffalo tomorrow. I am grateful for the chance to experience this and be of service. I have made memories of this COVID-19 pandemic up close and personal as a front-line provider. My feelings are mixed: the world has changed on us with COVID-19. On the other hand, just as in the Ebola outbreak, the toll from COVID-19 directly is not as heavy as the toll from people with chronic diseases not getting the care they need in a timely fashion. Systems are working sluggishly, partially shut down and life has changed.
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I am a physician practicing Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. This blog chronicles my life first as a medical student, then as a resident. It is about stories of medicine. If you think 'Scrubs' or 'Grey's Anatomy' tells the stories of a resident's life, then here is what it is really like (for one resident, anyway). This blog’s contents conform to HIPAA guidelines. No patient information is released and information that can be used for identification has been changed.
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About Me
- Med/Peds doc
- I am a physician board-certified in both Internal Medicine and in Pediatrics. Before becoming a doctor, I was a biochemistry professor, researcher and scientist. I am originally from India but have lived all over the world (born in Nigeria, lived in Nigeria, Liberia, Japan, India, Panama and the United States). I am married and have a 10 year old daughter. I love what I do. I love taking care of sick kids and older people -- the two specialties I am involved with. I am also into research on bacteriophages against Staphylococcus aureus.
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