Medical Admissions

Silly stories, words, and images in the life of an internal medicine resident

[md-admissions]

2020 (The dumpster fire) in review

I’m BACK after a long, long year. I’m working on figuring out the evolution of this page/blog. It’s brought me a lot of joy over the years and I want it grow as I grow. What that means, I’m trying to sort out. 

But for now...let’s talk about THE year.

1 - What did you do in 2020 that you’d never done before?

Survive a pandemic, publish in JAMA, start teletherapy, enjoy dating, kiss someone while sober, I ALSO KINDA DATED SOMEONE, GUYS! Got broken up with, healing from the break up, started a twitter, took on leadership roles I’ve never taken on, took my ID Boards exam, gave job talks, interviewed for jobs remotely, bought a recording microphone, lost 50 pounds (intentionally!!). Started a master’s degree, QUIT the degree program.  2 - Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I kept 5 out of 7 of my New Years resolutions!! So I’m absolutely making more.

3 - Did anyone close to you give birth?

Guys...nine people. Count ‘em. Nine people. All my close friends. Gave birth. Like...end me. 

4 - Did anyone close to you die?

No but I knew many who died. Or bore witness.

5 - What countries did you visit?

I narrowly avoided country-passed quarantines in January as I flew back from Asia. Won’t say what countries for now.

6 - What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020?

More progress in radical honesty, vulnerability, healing traumas that have held me back from creating healthy boundaries. More time with friends, more art, more music. More time unafraid to love and be loved. 7 - What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

11/4/2020. Took my ID boards that day.

8 - What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Publishing in JAMA with a colleague I have the privilege to call a phenomenal friend and the best collaborator I’ve ever had. 

9 - What was your biggest failure?

Waiting so long to finally hear my inner voice tell me that master’s degree wasn’t where or who I was anymore 10 - Did you suffer illness or injury?

Minor things.  11 - What was the best thing you bought?

The lap desk I’m currently using. Or my noise cancelling headphones. 12 - Whose behavior merited celebration?

My ID division. We fucking came together during this horrible shit. I’ve never been prouder or felt closer to a group of colleagues. 13 - Whose behavior made you appalled or depressed?

Anti-maskers, most of the US government, the list is so long.

14 - Where did most of your money go?

Food and clothes. Clothes because I lost so much weight I needed new clothing

15 - What did you get really, really, really excited passionate about?

Excited feels like a strong word. I was passionate about many things. Passionate about BLM, PPE shortages, writing out my advanced directives. Mentoring during a pandemic, being a mentee during a pandemic.  16 - What song(s) will always remind you of 2020?

Betty Who: You’re In Love 17 - Compared to this time last year, are you: I. Happier or sadder?

Sadder, but I know it’s the only way to feel after such an awful year. And that it will take me to a happier me as I continue to work through it.  II. Thinner or fatter?

Thinner

III. Richer or poorer?

Richer.

18 - What do you wish you’d done more of?

Therapy 19 - What do you wish you’d done less of?

Think that I was alone and only I could solve my problems 20 - How will you be spending/spent christmas?

Christmas at home with some Chinese take-out and watching It’s a Wonderful Life

21 - Did you fall in love in 2020?

No but I learned to really like someone without becoming infatuated 22 - How many one-night stands?

Zero. 23 - What was your favorite tv program?

Next in Fashion, Legendary, Bridgerton, Giri/Haji, Castlevania

24 - Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Uh hell yeah 25 - What was the best book you read?

This is How you Lose the Time War 26 - What was your greatest musical discovery?

This will sound odd but...re-discovering my own love for singing and music 27 - What did you want and get?

To publish meaningful research, to break internal emotional barriers, to stop using food to address feelings and actually ADDRESS them, to make true friends 28 - What was your favorite film of this year?

Gosh...I don’t remember any this year. Was kinda...drowning in work

29 - What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 32 and I got donuts for the infection control and stewardship departments that I work in! I ordered fancy Thai take out. I slept in. 30 - What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

No pandemic. A girl can dream.

31 - How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020?

LA pop/punk, but make it office 32 - What kept you sane?

The Ologies podcast. Intense talks with friends. 33 - Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

KEANU REEVES. ALWAYS. Especially this year. 

34 - What political/social issue stirred you the most?

Black Lives Matter.  35 - Who did you miss?

My best friend.  36 - Who was the best new person you met?

For all the pain I’m currently going through, a guy I met at work who I maybe-kinda-sorta-dated for 2 months. I made some wild breakthroughs and grew a lot from it, even though it didn’t end the way I wanted. I’m grateful for the me that’s growing and becoming through that experience.

37 - Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020:

The best, most authentic people are vulnerable because it’s scary as fuck and necessary

[dxmedstudent]

Is it safe to protest during a pandemic? Experts answer our questions

Protests over the police killing of George Floyd have sparked health concerns, but many experts say police violence is its own kind of epidemic

Protests have erupted nationwide in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, and public health experts warn of a likely uptick in Covid-19 infections. “There is the concern that protests could be super spreader events,” said Kim Sue, a physician who has participated in demonstrations.

And yet many health experts – aware of the risk – say they still support the protests, suggesting that police violence is its own kind of epidemic. We spoke with three of them.

Is it safe to protest during a pandemic?

Georges Benjamin, physician: There are many people who feel strongly that racism and police violence has gotten to the point that the risk calculation has changed. And so that they have to at least go out and let the public and the police know that it’s unacceptable. I’m African American, and so to me, the risk of being shot and killed by a police officer may, in some communities, be much higher than the risk of getting Covid-19 and dying.

The public health perspective is all about risk. And I think it’s a false trade-off. I mean, it is true that if you go back out there, we’re going to see spikes of disease. But at the end of the day, we’re still seeing an epidemic of police violence that just doesn’t seem to end.

[md-admissions]

I’d like to remind Americans on here that no matter what happened, the US was going to have a spike with re-opening. Re-openings in other countries have also seen spikes. The 1918 influenza pandemic also saw a spike with loosening of restrictions. The re-opening plans of many states that have already begun re-opening have often been sloppy, rushed, or fraught with problems. 

I am not saying that this excuses or justifies the number of cases we will see with our spike, nor does it mean we should all just give up on masks, handwashing or social distancing. What it should tell you is that America is an embarrassment. 

The fact that black communities who are already vulnerable to COVID-19 because of disparities in employment, insurance status, comorbidities, insurance status, etc. have no choice but to protest because they’re even more likely to die at the hands of police brutality, is the grim reality of America that we should all strive to dismantle.

[md-admissions]

Guys you know if it’s bad when ID doctors stop talking about COVID because institiutionalized racism and police brutality are literally bigger public health emergencies right now.

[dxmedstudent]

The problem is, both disproportionately affect black people, so our black patients and friends are between a rock and a hard place, now.

And every minute longer that these wrongs are unaddressed is doubly endangering their lives.

[md-admissions]

Yes yes yes!

[md-admissions]

Guys you know if it’s bad when ID doctors stop talking about COVID because institiutionalized racism and police brutality are literally bigger public health emergencies right now.

[md-admissions]

Trying to do better and be better as an ally physician. I’ve learned over the years that medicine has failed and on plenty of occasions exploited Black Americans. We can’t do better if we don’t know this history.

[md-admissions]

thank you for your keanu modcloth shirt post, i took that as a psa and bought one for myself 🙌🙌🙌

YESSSSS

[md-admissions]

In case I don’t make it through this pandemic, I can at least rest easy knowing I bought this beautiful, dumb shirt and made myself happy.

[humanitymed]

Health care professionals signed up to take care of people and save lives. They did not sign up to martyr themselves in a system unprepared to protect them in the face of an emergency. 

[intrainingdoc]

We would like to announce a new narrative medicine project entitled #COVID19: Stories From the Front Line, for frontline health care workers to anonymously catalog their experiences in this tumultuous time. 

It will serve as a living archive of the COVID-19 era: https://www.covid-19storiesfromthefrontline.com/

To contribute, go to http://shorturl.at/fgCJ9

[intrainingdoc]

For all the #COVID19 frontline workers out there, we invite you to contribute to our medical humanities project “#COVID19: Stories From the Front Line.”

It is an anonymous catalog of experiences to serve as a living archive of the #COVIDー19 era:

https://www.covid-19storiesfromthefrontline.com

[md-admissions]

I’m burning the candle at both ends as an ID fellow in infection control but I desperately want to submit something. In the meantime, will definitely signal boost!!

[md-admissions]

I designated myself emergency manager of infection control, designed a pager schedule and protocol to guide new people through how to field COVID19 calls, worked on algorithms with our infection control practitioners, took samples to the lab for testing, returned calls from physicians and other healthcare providers on COVID risk stratification.

This was just today.

And we have four ID physicians and three hospital epidemiologists also on the phones answering calls from concerned healthcare workers, patients, and administrators.

Whatever happens, just remember: a strong public health response leads to calm, organized responses. Not this. Fuck Pence. Fuck Trump. Fuck all this shit.

If you work anywhere and interact with infectious diseases or infection control, please take time tomorrow to offer them a coffee, a kind word, buy them a snack. We need it right now.

[flowri1983]

Finally some relatable fucking content.

[md-admissions]

As a millennial infectious diseases and infection control I just tested this by putting the song on and washing my hands. It got me to 23 seconds!

[breadrosesandtrains]

Sick of singing 'Happy Birthday' while washing hands to fight coronavirus? Try these pop hits instead

To help prevent the spread of coronavirus, the CDC recommends washing your hands for 20 seconds, or "Happy Birthday" sung twice. Here are 10

The LA Times actually put out a list of songs to sing for handwashing! I was super happy to see that I can now sing 'Africa' by Toto for public health purposes.

[md-admissions]

Oh shit I’m trying ALL OF THESE

[flowri1983]

Finally some relatable fucking content.

[md-admissions]

As a millennial infectious diseases and infection control I just tested this by putting the song on and washing my hands. It got me to 23 seconds!

[englishproblems]

[md-admissions]

1/? COVID series: A short list of reliable, up-to-date news: a guide from your neighborhood ID fellow

So you’re probably like me: your family and friends see you’re in the medical profession. Or maybe you’re not in the medical profession but you’re pretty well read and you keep up with news. And they want to know if they should believe the panic. What’s accurate? What’s old? What’s new? What’s reliable?

I’ll tell you right now that keeping on top of the information itself has been an Olympic-level task unto itself. 

This is not meant to be comprehensive, but designed for folks who need a few key, reliable resources to touch upon. 

Those with NEJM access: Use it. The front page is doing a great COVID19 update every day, so check that out!

For American updates on travel advisories (changing nearly every day or two): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html

For American updates on screening criteria: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/clinical-criteria.html

For international summaries, the WHO daily COVID19 situation reports: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/

For the visual learners (like me) to keep up with case numbers and locations: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

For the latest scientific literature on epidemiology, transmission, testing, and treatment: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/research/coronavirus/

For recommendations in your backyard: go to your state and county department of public health websites.

For little ones (or for those who like comics like me):  https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus

Those on twitter, three good places to start:

@CarlosdelRio7, @HelenBranswell, @MackayIM

[md-admissions]

ID enthusiasts and nerds probably already follow Dr Paul Sax’s blog, but he writes a great, clear FAQ right here:

Infectious Disease Doctor: What Does (And Doesn't) Scare Me About The Coronavirus

Infectious disease specialists these days are deluged by coronavirus questions from friends and family members, so here are a few answers.

[md-admissions]

As an infectious diseases fellow working in the infection control division, I want to let you guys know that there’s so much I want to share with everyone but just not enough hours in the day to get it all in writing. I’m going to think about how best to get things out in a timely manner, but would love everyone’s suggestions and input for strategies to keep updates consistent without them being too time consuming and what kind of COVID19 content would help people right now.

[md-admissions]

My phone is very extra, but optimistic. Weirdly...Aragorn-like?