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Parashat Tazria – Modern Pandemics and Exclusion from community
I was asked to give a D’var Torah (sermon) at Tikvat Israel this morning, during the month that our rabbi is away in Israel, volunteering in aid of that country in this time of war and struggle. You can read Rabbi Marc Israel’s reflections on his trip here. I don’t usually write out speeches ahead…
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Reunion weekend
I’ve just checked in at the courtyard of Ross Hall, at 23rd and Eye Streets in downtown Wash DC, where I showed up 24 years ago to start my medical career. I’m back for my 20th year reunion. Sadly, I had to work in the hospital up in Baltimore this morning, and one thing after…
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Thinking about death…
…and other important things. I am running out of time to listen to all the things I have on my smartphone. Podcasts, music, audiobooks…and then there’s live radio, which is often gripping. With all these options, it’s hard to choose what to listen to. This morning, on my way in to work, I decided, among…
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Reentry
Folks have asked me how “reentry” was, coming back from Sierra Leone to the US. And I keep wondering how to write about it here. I’ve been stalled, to some degree, by the fact that four of the posts that I wrote while I was there are still “quarantined” – they have yet to be…
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After the Red Zone
When the decision was made to remove all ex-patriots (ie non-Sierra Leoneans) working at the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) – ie the Red Zone -, we were reassigned to various other activities in the Port Loko area. My assignment was to the government hospital, which is in the process of being upgraded, and ramped up…
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Partners In Health Clinician Admitted for Ebola Treatment | Partners In Health
Partners In Health Clinician Admitted for Ebola Treatment | Partners In Health. Please rest assured that this clinician is NOT me! Partners In Health is doing everything possible to take care of this individual, and to maintain the safety and well-being of all of us here. In addition, the media/communications personnel of PIH are obviously…
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In the Hot Zone
Today wraps up the third day of our “hot zone” training, in the real ETU. The hot zone, is really termed the Red Zone, as distinct from the Green Zone, where one can walk around without PPE – personal protective equipment – because no potentially infected individuals are allowed in the Green Zone. We newbies…
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Practice in the Mock ETU
So, the last two days of training with IOM involved wearing the full PPE and going through simulated cases with our very generous survivor-teachers in the mock ETU which is set up in the stadium where the training took place. Thursday, we spent about 30 minutes in the ETU, and say two patients in the…
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Words of witness
Today’s training ran us through some very specific medical algorithms about treating patients infected with Ebola. And, then, in the afternoon, we heard from a panel of 6 survivors of EVD (Ebola virus disease). It triggered, for me, memories of the panels of AIDS patients who spoke to us in medical school, and who we…