The Podcast by KevinMD

"Could COVID-19 be an opportunity that brings the plight of health care professionals finally to the forefront? Protect us so we can protect you. Do your part and stay home. Flatten the curve to give health care professionals a chance. Donate PPE. Donate food. And yet through this war, we, health care professionals, along with the entirety of humanity, are united against a common, invisible enemy. We are all human; we all seek to be healthy and happy, all deserving of love and connection. Are we able to remind ourselves that health care professionals have never been so united before? That humanity has never been so united? Can all the health care professionals, no, all of humanity bear the weight of the world together? We can; we must. For our sake. For humanity's sake." Ni-Cheng Liang is a pulmonary physician and founder, the Mindful Healthcare Collective. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Undergoing an appendectomy in a pandemic." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/04/undergoing-an-appendectomy-in-a-pandemic.html)

"We are grateful to be avoiding the need to use draconian measures for resource allocation. We have been afforded the blessing of lead-time here in Los Angeles and have the chance to learn from other parts of the world, as well as other areas within the United States. We are preparing our personal protective equipment, re-organizing team structures and hospital workflow, taking new precautionary measures, and expanding the skillset of providers to maximize manpower. In case resource utilization reaches capacity, frameworks are in place to guide decisions in the most ethical and morally appropriate manner possible, and such frameworks remain available in future disaster scenarios. While we as health care providers address COVID-19 from the frontlines, there are still many ways the public at large can contribute to the battle against this pandemic that we all face, though the storm seems to slowly be calming." Alexander Connelly is an internal medicine physician. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "A Los Angeles response to the pandemic." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/04/a-los-angeles-response-to-the-pandemic.html)

"We are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it's already very clear that the infection prevention community in the U.S. has never faced such an enormous challenge. We have learned many things that will make us better prepared for the long term. We are far too reliant on single-use disposable products. Having a large supply of cloth surgical gowns and isolation gowns that can be laundered is essential. I'll comment on disposable face masks below. Less reliance on disposables will also be better for the environment." Michael Edmond is an infectious disease physician who blogs at Controversies in Hospital Infection Prevention. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Infection preventionists are true heroes, and other things we've learned so far." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/03/infection-preventionists-are-true-heroes-and-other-things-weve-learned-so-far.html)

"People remember stories in your speech. The rest fades away. I learned that pearl of wisdom from studying great literature and telling personal stories, and now teach it to students of speech. Who can forget the stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey having once read the books or heard of these tales of Homer? And when I want to tell a story of a hero, I think of the story detailed in another chapter of the life of my heroic policeman father who rescued hostages and gave wise advice about medical school that has served me well throughout life, that is, Homework; Courage; Never Give Up! Again, people remember stories. They forget statistics, graphs, and most information on slides. Stories that generate emotion have the equivalent of Velcro stickiness to your long-term memory storage." Donald J. Palmisano is a surgeon, an attorney and past president, American Medical Association. He is the author of A Leader's Guide to Giving a Memorable Speech: How to Deliver a Message and Captivate an Audience. (https://amzn.to/2VZu1DW) He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "People remember stories in your speech. The rest fades away." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/05/people-remember-stories-in-your-speech-the-rest-fades-away.html)

"Being a parent in the middle of a pandemic is not easy. Sheltering in place with canceled daycare, school, and college, while also being a doctor or other healthcare worker, working in high-risk, high-intensity situations, presents many challenges. It also presents many opportunities. It is possible to choose thoughts about being a physician and a parent during the COVID-19 situation that can help it feel more like an opportunity and less like a struggle." Jessie Mahoney is a pediatrician and can be reached at Pause & Presence Coaching. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "How parenting in a pandemic is an unexpected opportunity." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/04/how-parenting-in-a-pandemic-is-an-unexpected-opportunity.html)

"Many physicians are looking for alternative sources of income and are looking for ways to diversify their investment portfolio from the volatility of the stock market. Some have heard of real estate syndications, but what exactly is a syndication? For those who have not heard of it, real estate syndications can be an attractive investment vehicle for busy professionals who do not have the time or experience to actively manage real estate. As an investor in a syndication, you can put your capital to work for you, leveraging the benefits of investing in real estate that can provide passive income independent of your time." Cherry Chen is an internal medicine physician and founder, The Real Estate Physician. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Real estate syndication 101: a physician's guide." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2019/04/real-estate-syndication-101-a-physicians-guide.html)

"Each patient I have seen over these four decades has made me a better doctor. Books do not impact long term memory the way a real patient can. I once heard the chair of medicine at a teaching hospital say that the worst thing about being on call every other night as an intern is missing half the patients. I now know he was right. Each patient becomes a colored light in our sky." John F. McGeehan is an internal medicine physician. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Every patient makes me a better doctor." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/06/every-patient-makes-me-a-better-doctor.html)

"We know that the past two months haven't been easy. We know about the sleepless nights, anger, tears, depression, and anxiety. We know all of this because we know what trauma does to a person, and you are in the middle of experiencing a repeated trauma. The trauma of watching patients die in ways you've never seen, the trauma of watching colleagues die, the trauma of knowing what exactly this virus could do to you if you were to become infected. We know that some of you feel helpless in your role as a physician, and that inability to control things that you are used to controlling is disrupting your confidence. For some of you, the frustration with your institutions is making it difficult to make through each shift." Nicole B. Washington is a psychiatrist and can be reached at her self-titled site, drnicolepsych.com. She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "To every physician from the psychiatrists who are here to support you." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/05/to-every-physician-from-the-psychiatrists-who-are-here-to-support-you.html)

"The COVID-19 pandemic has upended health care, with telemedicine emerging as a strategy to reduce risk exposures for patients and clinicians. Video visits, in particular, can be effective for many types of clinical care and offer convenience and savings for patients. As care shifts to this virtual modality, however, there is a risk of jeopardizing the meaningful human interaction that is critical to clinical care and impactful to patients and clinicians alike. The communication challenges of telemedicine, further compounded by COVID-19 related stress, call for strategies to help clinicians forge meaningful interactions with patients during virtual visits. The Presence 5, published earlier this year in JAMA, comprises evidence-based guidelines to foster humanism and connection in clinical care. Reconceptualizing this framework for video visits offers several strategies aligned with the Presence 5 practices: prepare with intention, listen intently and completely, agree on what matters most, connect with the patient's story, and explore emotional cues. Prioritizing explicit humanistic practices can help clinicians foster meaningful virtual connections with patients amidst this challenging pandemic and in the future as telemedicine becomes more widely integrated into clinical care." Megha Shankar is an internal medicine physician. She shares her story and discusses the KevinMD article that she co-wrote, "Strategies to foster meaningful connection during telemedicine visits." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/04/strategies-to-foster-meaningful-connection-during-telemedicine-visits.html)

"Faced with the prospect of not being able to provide all COVID-19 patients with the life support that they may need, physicians and nurses are working in conditions that have been described as 'hell.' How are providers to cope with the trauma they are experiencing in New York and Italy, and presumably other nations as well? How are they to cope with the moral implications of the brutal decisions they will be called on to make if two critically ill patients compete for the same life-sustaining treatment when only one is available?" Geoff Tyrrell is a palliative care chaplain. He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Faced with terrible decisions, but making the right choices." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/04/faced-with-terrible-decisions-but-making-the-right-choices.html) This podcast represents his private opinion and not that of the VA, his endorser, or board certification organization.