“Covid19 is a hoax”, “vaccines poison your body”, “the earth is flat.” Various conspiracy theories and misinformation statements have existed throughout history. Though some might seem absurd and often put into the spotlight to ridicule them as they are improbable to be accurate, like the earth being flat, this comedian aspect shifts to a sinister … Read more
American Heart Association Early Career Guest Blog Sherry-Ann Brown MD PhD FAHA WELLNESS The World Health Organization defines wellness as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. The terms in this definition inspire similar words such as continuous (state), whole (complete), tangible (physical) and … Read more
Work-life balance: for many in Cardiology it’s an elusive idea. Now, our worlds of work and “life outside of work” are even more blurred among Zoom meetings and facemasks. However, over the years, I have learned 3 important concepts (Figure 1) that has made work-life balance POSSIBLE, not just a myth. Figure 1. Outlining the … Read more
“Race is the child of racism, not the father.” -Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me. BiDil, a combination of isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine, was approved by the FDA in 2005 to treat heart failure in African Americans— the first race-based indication in the U.S. Though some groups lauded this move as a win for … Read more
One of the characteristics of attending medium to large scientific sessions is the time-honored act of… running from room to room trying to catch glimpses of talks that interested you, but have of course ended up in different rooms, minutes apart. Many of us have done this, and to an extent, I don’t mind it! … Read more
I was recently reading a Time magazine article, which included previously unreported coverage of Congressman John Lewis, the Civil Rights icon, who succumbed to cancer last week. When asked why he continued to tell his story, he responded: …it affects me — and sometimes it brings me to tears. But I think it’s important … Read more
So far, 2020 has been a year of public health crises. By early spring, it was apparent that people living in socio-economically disadvantaged areas were being hit hardest by Covid-19 [1]. In these same areas, people across the United States took to the streets protesting the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man – … Read more
It’s July 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of ending. A friend recently asked me if I ‘d ever imagined such a scenario when I decided to do medicine. The answer is no. None of us, not even our mentors had trained for a pandemic of this magnitude. Still, while this is still … Read more
As we continue to see the increasing number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and amid the second peak of this pandemic in the United States (US), everyone from physicians to the general public should know how to approach and perform basic life support (BLS) with certain precautions and modifications of routine BLS protocols for … Read more
As early-career physicians started residency and many physicians began fellowship training this month, it’s hard to think that recruitment for next year’s residency and fellowship classes is beginning soon. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many of our usual routines and processes. Similarly, this year’s residency and fellowship interviews are going to be different than previous … Read more