Special COVID Young Physician Newsbrief Features
Read featured COVID articles from the WDS Resident Fellow and Young Physicians Committee.
Avoiding Burnout During the Pandemic:
Interviews by Dr. Shari Lipner
Dr. Neelam Khan, then a 3rd year dermatology resident at SUNY Downstate, volunteered to care for COVID-19 patients during March 2020, and was redeployed to the COVID-19 wards in April 2020. She related that she worked on a pediatric floor that was cleared out and converted to an adult COVID-19 adult ward. Downstate was vastly under sourced, treatment approaches were not working, and patients were dying daily. She worked long hours and found the experience stressful. Participating in WDS virtual networking events and speaking to other WDS members was one important way that she coped with her experiences. She reported that this time on the wards was the most valuable experience of her life. When I asked her about her feelings on dermatology education during this time, she responded: “I had excellent dermatology training before the pandemic and my dermatology education will continue after the pandemic. The experience on the COVID-19 wards gave me resilience, humility and made me a better physician overall. It gave me a better perspective on life.”
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Jane Grant-Kels on burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the COVID-19 times, paperwork, the electronic medical record, and billing were the most important contributors to burnout in dermatologists. Now during the pandemic, fear of becoming ill with COVID-19 is likely prominent amongst many dermatologists, particularly those in older age groups. In fact, some older dermatologists have retired and sold their practices. To combat burnout, Dr. Grant-Kels, takes joy in caring for her patients, and takes joy in interacting and teaching residents. Even though there has been a movement away from live to virtual learning, she continues to keep her focus on giving residents affection and attention. She stresses that we will figure out how to prevent and cure this disease – it is only temporary. Remember that we are needed by our patients. It is important to see the glass as half full. Think about the opportunity to spend more time with your partner, spouse, and children.
Tips for Running Your Practice During COVID-19:
Navigating COVID-19 and Teledermatology Tips from Dr. Charles Crutchfield
"The accelerated development of this critical telemedicine offering is a testament to the nimble, multitalented staff here, and I couldn't be prouder of the way we rose to the challenge and pushed to adapt for the benefit of our patients, our employees, and communities across the country." He continued, "This unfortunate situation has brought the opportunity to recalibrate how we provide care. If these first 2,000 encounters have taught us anything, it will be that our workflows may change, but more efficient care and widespread quality dermatologic care can be the result. That is our silver lining," - Dr. Charles Crutchfield
"We have created access to telemedicine across all of our offices so that patients can call their provider's office and get an appointment, along with instructions on an easy-to-use platform for video conferencing. The most important thing we can do for our patients is to make sure they have access to care in the safest place for them, which, still, is their home right now." - Tim Quesnell, Clinic Manager at Crutchfield Dermatology.
Stories from the Frontline:
Personal Memoir by Dr. Kristin Lo Sicco
COVID-19 has significantly impacted my personal and professional life and will forever change the way that I approach many things. The surge began in Northern Italy in the region next to where my fiancé is from and happens to be where we were to be married this August. Cancelling (or rather postponing) our wedding was a difficult decision however pales in comparison to those who have lost their lives or their loved ones.
I was infected with COVID-19 over a month ago and fortunately was able to recover from the comfort of my (albeit small) NYC apartment. I worked from home while sick (and also trying to care for my fiancé who was ill with COVID) because I am responsible for running our hospital-based dermatology clinic. Those 2 weeks were some of the most stressful of my life. With rapidly emerging information regarding this virus came ever changing policies that at times felt impossible to keep up with however as a leader, I have tried to remain focused on the task at hand and that is to safely care for our patients. By far, the majority of our care has been via Video or Store and Forward TeleDermatology however my unit, the Skin&Cancer Unit at NYU never closed its doors as we’ve had to care for our urgent dermatology patients who would have otherwise been sent to the ED. We have been working in alternating teams of two daily, one resident and one attending.
Fortunately, NYU has been better equipped regarding availability of PPE compared to several other NYC hospitals and clinics. Many faculty and residents in my department volunteered for inpatient deployment however currently only two faculty members have been called upon. Just about half of our residents however are inpatient and I couldn’t be more proud of them. I thought I may have had a lower likelihood of being called upon given my leadership role so (of course after being cleared to return to work) I volunteered to work at our Brooklyn Hospital campus over some weekends. I did inpatient dermatology consults there for several years and knew many of the physicians there already.
It has been an honor to serve as an inpatient physician however it reminded me of how fortunate I am to be a dermatologist. I was quickly reminded of how long hours and caring for critically ill patients takes both a physical and emotional toll on providers. My heart also broke for the patients, several of which were on both nasal cannula and non re-breather masks, looking at me with fear in their eyes. I cannot imagine how they must have felt. Feeling like you cannot breathe and feeling all alone as no visitors are allowed. Technology is wonderful for communication however did not provide patients with the comfort of holding their loved one’s hand. We also saw a need for connecting with families as much as possible to give them updates as the overburdened inpatient teams needed help managing. Hence the birth of our NYU “Family Connect” program in which several of our residents and faculty members serve. While we have begun to see a decrease in the number of COVID-related admissions, we still had several hundred new admissions in NYC earlier this week. We also still need to see a significant decrease in the number of ICU patients.
I now know how it feels to be a family member with a loved one in the hospital during this unprecedented time in history. Earlier this week my own mom, an Ultrasound Tech still working full time, was admitted to the hospital. While she has tested negative for COVID-19, her bullous emphysema has led to a pneumothorax which has yet to heal with her chest tube in place. And while I am hopeful that she will be discharged soon I cannot help but worry that she could have been exposed to COVID while a patient in the hospital. We will have to monitor her closely but at least she is on the ground floor in a room that we can visit her from the outside. Here is a photo of my twin sister and I visiting her yesterday.
The shortness of breath I experienced was scary however I feel somewhat fortunate for having been infected early on. My blood PCR is negative and I have antibodies against COVID-19. I guess you can call me super KLo now! While I don’t know if my antibodies are truly immunizing, I feel one thing for certain. My convalescent plasma will likely save a life and I feel fortunate to have the ability to give back in more ways than one.
Comments
Post a Comment