Our Health Care Workers Are Struggling — That’s Why I Introduced Legislation to Help
As the husband of a physician, I like to say that issues affecting health care workers aren’t just dinner tables issues — they’re breakfast, lunch and dinner table issues. This has never been truer than it is during the current coronavirus crisis. When the greater Chicago area was overrun with COVID-19 patients this past spring, […]
Aerosolization, Endonasal Surgery and the Neurosurgeon
Neurosurgeons never stop learning. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, previously obscure terms such as airflow and aerosolization — the dispersal of a substance such as medicine or viral particles in the form of an aerosol — have entered our regular lexicon. We can now readily identify which of our operating rooms has the […]
Stroke Month: Continued Progress in Research and Patient Care
On average, someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds. Acute ischemic stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S. and around the world. The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that in 2016 there were 5.5 million deaths attributable to cerebrovascular disease worldwide — 2.7 million of […]
Providing Comfort and Mercy: The U.S. Military’s COVID-19 Response Effort
Editor’s Note: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, neurosurgeons have helped bring aid and comfort to neurosurgical patients and those suffering from the novel coronavirus. Today, on Memorial Day, we wish to salute the efforts of the men and women serving in our U.S. Military, who, too, have provided comfort and mercy during this […]
Life as a Medical Student During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused sweeping systemic changes to the landscape of medicine and society as a whole in the few short months since the virus arose. The pandemic has impacted all medical specialties, and those still in training have experienced significant disruptions to their education. Medical schools were quick to respond to the spread […]
COVID-19 and Neurosurgical Training: Impact on the Next Generation of Neurosurgeons (Part II)
What started as a brief segment on the evening news has consumed our daily lives as COVID-19 spreads across the globe. As health care facilities became inundated with critically ill patients, the nation’s intensivists, internists, emergency medicine physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists took to the front lines to fight this invisible enemy. With years of […]
COVID-19 and Neurosurgical Training: Impact on the Next Generation of Neurosurgeons (Part I)
In early March, our neurosurgery team at Mount Sinai Medical Center noticed a handful of COVID-19 cases admitted to our medical intensive care unit (MICU), which is just down the hall from the neurosurgical intensive care unit (ICU). The daily news from Asia and Europe was certainly not encouraging, but we proceeded with our normal […]
CNS Launches Town Hall Xperience to Cover COVID-19 and Timely Neurosurgery Topics
To address the need for neurosurgeons to rapidly share experiences and insights during COVID-19, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) recently launched a complimentary Town Hall Xperience for CNS members. The CNS Town Hall Xperience provides an informal and interactive format, where experts discuss their experiences and answer questions from members. Members can submit topics […]
Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic and in a Changing Health Care System
The COVID-19 crisis has produced seismic changes in the practice of neurosurgery. For weeks elective surgeries have been eliminated and shelter in place orders implemented. Patients still develop herniated discs with neurologic deficits, present with brain tumors and need neurosurgical treatment. Telemedicine has provided one option for remaining connected to our established patients and caring […]
Neurosurgery, COVID-19 and Health Disparities: Perspectives from a Minority Provider
COVID-19 has had a tremendous global impact and has taken the lives of many people. It has halted economies and disrupted our educational system. It has strained health care resources and has expedited health policy reforms. One particular impact of COVID-19 that troubles me as a minority provider is the disproportionate burden of illness and […]