"Last March, I was working in a small primary care practice on the west side of Denver. COVID-19 came to town. On Thursday, March 12, we were told the schools would be closing. On Friday, we were told that clinic staff had to wear masks — and the clinic had to start testing patients for COVID-19.

The only problem? There were no medical-grade masks to be had. Not through the state health department, not on Google, not anywhere. Likewise, there were no COVID tests available. A patient came into the clinic late that afternoon, complaining of a high fever and a bad cough for three days. He wanted to know if he had COVID-19. So did I! But there was no way to test him."

Janet Tamaren is a family physician and author of Yankee Doctor in the Bible Belt: A Memoir.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "I was thinking about retiring, and COVID-19 gave me a push." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/08/i-was-thinking-about-retiring-and-covid-19-gave-me-a-push.html)