Clinical

Amira Athanasios, MD Amira Athanasios, MD (1 Posts)

Resident Physician Contributing Writer

USF Morsani College of Medicine

Amira Athanasios is a first year resident in internal medicine and will be pursuing a career in mental health. She is a graduate of The George Washington University School of Medicine and Scripps College. She is passionate about the intersections of health, culture, race, and personal narrative. As such, she has written on public health, health equity, and narrative medicine.




Early Palliative Care and End-of-Life Planning as a Primary Preventative Intervention During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Published by Amira Athanasios, MD

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has drastically increased the number of critically ill and dying patients presenting for hospitalized management of dyspnea, acute respiratory failure and other serious complications. The emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 has created unprecedented demands on all avenues of inpatient hospitalist medicine. One of the many services in high demand includes palliative care, with increased need for complex end of life planning.

Our Acts of Freedom: A Physician-Advocate’s Perspective

Published by Melissa Palma, MD, MPH

On the morning of January 6, I awoke ecstatic to the news of Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff’s predicted wins in the Georgia run-off elections. To be frank, I have become hesitant to hope while inured by the near-daily attacks on civil rights by the Trump administration via executive orders and federal policies. Over the past four years, I witnessed with pride — but also fear — as community activists tirelessly organized to combat racist policies.

A Reflection on Autonomy and Suicide in the Face of Multicultural Religious Beliefs

Published by Panna Patel, DO

Above all else, do no harm. This is a basic tenet of a physician’s oath, but this oath does not always align with the religious and cultural beliefs of each patient. In cases where beliefs of faith, salvation or religion play a major factor in a patient’s desire to commit suicide, it can be difficult to draw the line between the traditional ethical guidelines of patient autonomy and non-maleficence.

Internalizing Medicine: Starting Intern Year in the Time of COVID

Published by Keanan McGonigle, MD, MPP

In my home city of Washington, D.C., citizens have taken the changes brought on by COVID-19 very seriously; social distancing, masking and frequent hand hygiene are now routine. These days, I am startled when I see the bottom half of someone’s face out in public. Our homes have become our sanctuaries. In the hospital, however, much of our work continues unabated. Orders are written, notes are signed, lab work is drawn, imaging is performed. Housestaff are on the front lines with nurses, respiratory therapists and patient care technicians taking care of the sickest patients day-in, day-out.

Ruth

Published by Sevde Felek, MD

I first met Ruth in the emergency department when I was a third-year medical student on my psychiatry rotation. She was an “elderly female with psychosis — medical workup negative.” My resident had received a page with a request for her admission and sent me to the ED to speak with her first.

Facing the Consequences of the Pandemic as an Oncologist-in-Training

Published by Mariam Saad

For the first time in history, a pandemic has shut down the entire globe. COVID-19 has affected our lives in many ways, including significantly impacting health care services. Many people, sensing an unseen danger looming in the air, have become increasingly afraid to visit their primary care physicians, and we are now discovering the catastrophic consequences of this delay.

Witness

Published by Megha Shankar, MD

This elderly yet jolly gentleman answers our unending questions about his physical health, but it is his question to us that makes me pause. Do I have time for a poem? This busy clinic day, I stop reflecting on why his heart stopped beating and instead what motivates his heart to beat in the first place.   

Kshama Bhyravabhotla, MD Kshama Bhyravabhotla, MD (2 Posts)

Peer Reviewer Emeritus

Tulane University School of Medicine

Kshama Bhyravabhotla is a Med-Peds intern at Tulane University in New Orleans who is passionate about underserved patient care and teaching. When she's not at work, she can be found watching Atlanta sports, discovering good street art and live music, and alternating between eating her way through the city and running the calories off.