COVID-19: Voices From the Community

Medical Publishing in a COVID-19 World: How the Journal CHEST Adapted and Evolved

By: Peter J. Mazzone, MD, MPH, FCCP
Published: March 30, 2021

This experience has reaffirmed the need for scholarly publications to filter content through review, exposed processes that impact the ease of submission and timeliness of review, and strengthened our understanding of the need to digest and communicate content in varied and creative ways.

What It’s Like to Be a Postgraduate Trainee in a Pandemic

By: Enambir Josan, MD
Published: March 2, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted physicians-in-training in several ways, affecting their on-the-job training requirements and their protected time for learning. One trainee shares his experience.

How APPs Helped Bridge the Staffing Gap During the COVID-19 Crisis

By: Charlotte Thomas, DNP-DNES, RN, AGACNP-BC, CCRN, and Sarah Norton, MSN, RN, AGACNP-BC, CCRN
Published: February 5, 2021

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, one small community hospital struggled with resignations and physicians becoming ill. The establishment of their ICU nurse practitioner program proved to be a key factor in maintaining the unit and providing care during this expansion in demand.

Life as a Critical Care Physician on the USS Nimitz

By: CAPT Gilbert Seda, MD, PhD
Published: January 22, 2021

The men and women of the US military face unique challenges in carrying out their missions during the COVID-19 pandemic. A critical care physician on board a naval aircraft carrier shares his experience preparing for a potential outbreak and coping with the stressors of a long deployment at sea.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Using Storyboards to Humanize the COVID-19 ICU Experience

By: Jennifer LaCoss, MD
Published: January 4, 2021

With hospitals prohibiting visitors and many patients with COVID-19 unable to communicate with their care teams, it has become more difficult to learn about the people we are caring for—who they are and what makes them unique. As clinicians navigate this changed landscape, we must find new ways to create connections with our patients.

COVID-19 as Seen From the Other Side: A Physician’s Experience Contracting the Virus

By: Rosa Cordovilla, MD, PhD
Published: December 29, 2020

When a doctor contracted COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic, she realized just how fine the line separating clinicians from patients really is—and that her job was about much more than simply knowing how to make a diagnosis or offer a treatment.

Clinical Aspects of Expanding an ECMO Program During a Pandemic

By: John Hunninghake, MD, and Jeff DellaVolpe, MD
Published: November 25, 2020

The demand for ECMO therapy has exponentially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. What does it take to expand an ECMO program in these circumstances? Teamwork, coordination, and...a playbook.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on COPD

By: Farrukh Abbas, MBBS; Kadambari Vijaykumar, MD; Navitha Ramesh, MD, MBBS, FCCP; and Allen Blaivas, DO, FCCP (on behalf of the CHEST Airways Disorders NetWork)
Published: November 23, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased risks in patients with COPD and created challenges in caring for this patient population. There is a dire need for the establishment of effective virtual programs and inclusive care.

How Far We Have Come

By: Kevin Swiatek, DO
Published: November 12, 2020

As COVID-19 cases rise across the country, clinicians will need to prepare for even more challenges. But it seems that this next wave will be different than the first.

Trainees on the Front Lines

By: Mauricio Danckers, MD, FCCP
Published: November 2, 2020

Since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, our trainees have been provided with a unique opportunity to learn and manage a novel disease, along with a firsthand look at how our health-care system can adapt to new challenges. The relationship between mentees and mentors has never been more important than during these unusual learning times.

COVID-19 and the Impact on Junior Medical Students

By: Sarah Tapyrik, MD, FCCP
Published: October 26, 2020

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical students were thrown into a world of uncertainty, with delayed exams and rescheduled rotations. But these unique challenges could add to their resilience and problem-solving abilities moving forward.

Breathing Easier During COVID-19: Hyperbaric Hoods in the ICU

By: Michael Harrison, MD, PhD, MPH; Devang Sanghavi, MD, MHA, FCCP; Klaus Torp, MD; Jorge Mallea, MD; and Pablo Moreno Franco, MD, FCCP
Published: October 1, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic surged, clinicians faced challenges in providing respiratory support for critically ill patients. One team came up with an innovative, yet inexpensive and easy solution that helped prevent the need for intubation purely for hypoxia.

COVID-19 and a Mother's Love: The Healing Power of Family

By: Matthew C. Miles, MD, MEd, FCCP
Published: September 21, 2020

A young patient with COVID-19 was not improving after weeks of treatment—so the hospital took extraordinary efforts to allow his mother to safely visit. The experience showed one physician the healing power of a family’s love.

Lessons Learned: How the Cystic Fibrosis Community Has Navigated COVID-19

By: Holly Keyt, MD, FCCP
Published: September 18, 2020

As COVID-19 has spread across the world, there has been concern that people with cystic fibrosis may have more severe infections due to the novel virus, similar to 2009 with the H1N1 influenza pandemic.