Q: What types of appointments are you conducting, and what are patients’ chief concerns regarding COVID-19’s potential risks and symptoms?
I have been conducting outpatient visits by telephone or video.
My patients are most concerned that they will run out of hydroxychloroquine and not be able to get refills—this has already happened to some of them. So a lot of conversations have centered around how to safely dose reduce. They are worried about their risk of severe COVID-19 due to immunosuppression should they contract it. So it seems everyone is strictly adhering to the North Carolina governor’s shelter-in-place order.
Q: How is the pandemic affecting you, your staff and your students personally?
It’s hard to concentrate on anything besides thinking about COVID-19. For us, as we wait for the surge to come, the main thing I have experienced is social isolation, disrupted schedules and the anxiety that comes with spending weeks preparing for an impending disaster. I am anxious for my fellows’ wellbeing and their education.
Working to come up with a balance of doing work while tending to the emotional needs of my family and fellows is challenging, but purposeful. I am in absolutely no position to complain, and my heart aches for my colleagues around the country and the patients and their families who have been deeply affected.
Carina Stanton is a freelance science journalist based in Denver.
