It doesn't take long in the practice of medicine, indeed in the training for the practice of medicine, to learn humility. To understand our limits in our understanding of a disease process, in our abilities to heal patients, and in our own importance in the grand scheme of things. Yet as physicians and as experts we are socialised … [Read More...]

Twitter for Infectious Disease Physicians
Infectious disease (ID) conferences tend to rejuvenate me despite the information overload. This year, IDWeek in Washington DC was no different except for the impact of social media particularly Twitter. The last time I attended IDWeek in New Orleans ( 2016), one of the themes was gloom. We were struggling to fill ID fellowship … [Read More...]
Infectious Diseases

COVID-19: Is Hydroxychloroquine Truly the Answer?
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages in our various cities, it is important to remember that as of today there are no proven effective therapies. Still it is very … [Read More...]

Living in Two Different Worlds in the Era of COVID-19
March 1 2020 I've been back from my Thailand/Cambodia holiday two weeks now. Opened up my work email to find a number of emails related to my hospital's … [Read More...]
Medicine

What Can Infectious Disease Physicians Learn from Hospitalists?
I just returned from IDWeek in New Orleans where one of the running themes was on the future of the infectious disease specialty. In brainstorming what we could do … [Read More...]

Secretly Recording Doctors
Increasingly, I realize that I'm being audio-recorded when I'm interacting with my patients at their hospital bedside. I say realize, because the majority of the … [Read More...]
Medical Musings
Death, Decrepitude and Familial Guilt
Life. Death. One of the greatest truths I have learned in medicine is that death is normal. Society operates … [Read More...]

Is It Time To Loosen Purse Strings?
Major life milestone alert. Yes indeed. Finally, after five years I have watched my $230,000 student loan debt dwindle … [Read More...]
Medical Training
After ID Fellowship, What Next?
Second year of infectious disease fellowship was supposed to be great. It being the last year of my medical training, I … [Read More...]
IDSA Fellows In-Training Exam Preparation
I'm back on a slow service. It's so painfully slow I'm chronically tired from lack of work. I know. Too much work and I … [Read More...]