I have a granddaughter who associated masks with the chance her loved ones were going to die. That’s too much fear for a child to carry! And I feel masks have become a security blanket.
Dr. Leap: I have read your writings for years and have often found them entertaining and poignant. Not so much this one. You lost me when you were willing to talk unmasked with a high risk elderly (meaning NOT low risk) patient who sought your care trusting that you would do your best to minimize her risks. And I'm not sure where you are practicing, but to my knowledge there is nowhere in the U.S. right now where the "COVID numbers have been close to zero." You have a platform here. Is this the message you want to put out there?
Dr. Birnbaumer, I appreciate your comment. I practice in the rural Southeast. I am struggling to remember the last COVID patient I diagnosed or treated. I don't believe I have seen one in the last six weeks. I work about 10-12 shifts per month, 12 hours each, clearly a full-time practice. (I've seen far more heroin overdoses and methamphetamine side effects than COVID.) By way of perspective, there is one small hospital about 30 minutes from ours, and the other referral centers are two hours away. Therefore, patients in our community come to us, having few other options. That's useful information given that our hospital might have had one COVID admission (admittedly out of 25 beds) in the last month that I'm aware of but certainly I don't know all of the admission data. As such I'm not really sure what our definition of 'close to zero' should be. I did not take my mask off to put my patient at risk but in order to communicate effectively. I typically wear masks for all patient encounters as per hospital policy. The patient welcomed my effort. And I am fully vaccinated with a booster, and asymptomatic as was the patient. I realize that COVID is now endemic and that it will come and go for the foreseeable future. I'm honestly curious how you feel that we should respond. Should we wear masks full-time in the hospital, or in public, from now on? Given the reality that no vaccine or therapeutic is likely to be 100%, I suppose that's an option. But no matter what I say or don't say on my platform, the public is weary of masks and won't comply. As for my platform specifically, I have tried to encourage vaccination and also to encourage sympathy for the vaccine hesitant. I have tried to use my voice to lower the temperature of the interaction between physicians and their patients. I understand my platform and the thing is, my post had nothing to do with saying that masking was irrelevant or that healthcare providers need to rebel. It was a specific instance to help me make a specific point about communication and was ultimately about what the unintended side effects of masking (and heated dialogue) might do to our interactions with one another. I suppose that puts me outside the circle of 'orthodoxy,' but I'm hardly the only physician asking these questions. I appreciate the fact that you read my work and that you took the time to reply. Have a great day.
I have a granddaughter who associated masks with the chance her loved ones were going to die. That’s too much fear for a child to carry! And I feel masks have become a security blanket.
Dr. Leap: I have read your writings for years and have often found them entertaining and poignant. Not so much this one. You lost me when you were willing to talk unmasked with a high risk elderly (meaning NOT low risk) patient who sought your care trusting that you would do your best to minimize her risks. And I'm not sure where you are practicing, but to my knowledge there is nowhere in the U.S. right now where the "COVID numbers have been close to zero." You have a platform here. Is this the message you want to put out there?
Dr. Birnbaumer, I appreciate your comment. I practice in the rural Southeast. I am struggling to remember the last COVID patient I diagnosed or treated. I don't believe I have seen one in the last six weeks. I work about 10-12 shifts per month, 12 hours each, clearly a full-time practice. (I've seen far more heroin overdoses and methamphetamine side effects than COVID.) By way of perspective, there is one small hospital about 30 minutes from ours, and the other referral centers are two hours away. Therefore, patients in our community come to us, having few other options. That's useful information given that our hospital might have had one COVID admission (admittedly out of 25 beds) in the last month that I'm aware of but certainly I don't know all of the admission data. As such I'm not really sure what our definition of 'close to zero' should be. I did not take my mask off to put my patient at risk but in order to communicate effectively. I typically wear masks for all patient encounters as per hospital policy. The patient welcomed my effort. And I am fully vaccinated with a booster, and asymptomatic as was the patient. I realize that COVID is now endemic and that it will come and go for the foreseeable future. I'm honestly curious how you feel that we should respond. Should we wear masks full-time in the hospital, or in public, from now on? Given the reality that no vaccine or therapeutic is likely to be 100%, I suppose that's an option. But no matter what I say or don't say on my platform, the public is weary of masks and won't comply. As for my platform specifically, I have tried to encourage vaccination and also to encourage sympathy for the vaccine hesitant. I have tried to use my voice to lower the temperature of the interaction between physicians and their patients. I understand my platform and the thing is, my post had nothing to do with saying that masking was irrelevant or that healthcare providers need to rebel. It was a specific instance to help me make a specific point about communication and was ultimately about what the unintended side effects of masking (and heated dialogue) might do to our interactions with one another. I suppose that puts me outside the circle of 'orthodoxy,' but I'm hardly the only physician asking these questions. I appreciate the fact that you read my work and that you took the time to reply. Have a great day.