By Christine M. Akamine ’15 and Michael B. Ing ’90 Background and Vaccine Efficacy The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has had a devastating impact globally since its emergence in December 2019. Vaccines are the most promising component of the effort to reduce COVID-19 associated morbidity and…
Darcy Mainville ’15, Loma Linda University My experience with COVID could be summarized in 2 words: ‘roller coaster’. In the ED, I have had several shifts waiting for the “the COVID tent” to fill with several patients so I could don PPE and go examine them all at once. Most were fine to go home…
Kathleen Valenzuela ’19, Loma Linda University I felt defeated whenever the COVID-19 patients didn’t do well, especially when we gave all that we could give that was medically available at the time.
Brett Schaeffer ’17, Loma Linda University The MICU was the ‘bus stop’ for all ICU level of care patients. Everything would come through us and when ‘cleared’ would travel on to the appropriate service (SICU, NMCCS, CCU, etc). Thankfully, many of those patients continued on their journey to the next service and did not have…
Laren Tan ’09, Loma Linda University Due to visitor restrictions, the phrase ‘seeing is believing’ during the COVID19 outbreak has taken a new meaning when attempting to describe over the phone how deathly ill a patient is to their loved ones. No longer is the clinician able to see and interpret the body language of…
Dafne Moretta ’11, Loma Linda University I used to find comfort in the phrase, ‘We’ll do everything we can to keep him alive until you get here.’ Not anymore. This virus has robbed us of the opportunity to keep patients alive, and the possibility of dying among the presence of their loved ones. Mourning in…
Nick Walters ’89, Bangkok Adventist Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. My first patient with suspected COVID-19 was more than a month ago. She was a 24-year-old woman with some autoimmune disease who came into the hospital with cough and fever and deteriorated rapidly over the next few to 4 days and was put on a ventilator and…
Kevin Kinback MD ’92, Asst. Clinical Prof of Psychiatry, LLUSM (2000-pres). I’m expanding my psychiatry group in Ladera Ranch to have 6 clinicians this year and still growing. With the virus, we had to stop procedures like Spravato (ketamine) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). While this creates a major loss of revenue, we are blessed…
Jenny Jaque ’04, AA Media Advisory Council Chair, OB-GYN, says it’s been challenging for her and her husband, Jason Tomlin ’00 (General Surgery, Trauma/Critical Care). Having two physicians under one roof means that in the event of exposure, they are unable to use social distancing at home. She currently has no scrubs at work and is required…
Debra Stottlemyer ’86, AA President, have recently retired from an internal medicine clinical career to care for hre three elderly parents in addition to my quadriplegic husband. She remains an active faculty member, and was able to volunteer at the school. Doug Hegstad ’80-A, chair of internal medicine at LLUH, asked faculty alumni to help…