VCOM 2020 Annual Report

SPECIAL REPORT

Trying to Find a Solution I am an Infectious Disease (ID) physician in Cleveland, Ohio, and currently stationed at

Niyati Sheth, DO Class of 2007, VCOM-Virginia, Infectious Disease, University Hospital System, Cleveland, OH

sharing their protocols from their institutions. In times when there are no guidelines, we rely on each other’s anecdotal experiences for a better understanding. My family doesn’t see me much, and that is hard. They understand, more than we realize, that things have significantly changed. My oldest tells me that I am missing the fun , and that breaks my heart. My biggest

Elyria Hospital. The first diagnosed patient at the hospital was mine. I received the result bedside and felt terror for the patient and my staff. It was the beginning of a nightmare: an influx of a large volume of patients, long hours, anxiety of the unknown, trying to assimilate information at an irrational speed, the explosion of data and changing guidelines, trying to find a solution

fear is bringing it home with me.

“My family doesn’t see me much, and that is hard.They understand, more than we realize, that things have significantly changed.”

where no solution exists and trying to provide the families with some absolution. I have access to clinical trials and experimental medications for

The outpouring of signs, photos and chalk drawings around the hospital offering encouragement has been heartwarming. The physical and mental

research purposes at my institution. We’ve been able to enroll patients in Gilead’s clinical trial for Remdesivir. We have access to some of the monoclonals, which are retrospectively reviewed. We have acquired rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and antibody testing and will be starting a new trial with plasma. While there may be an intrinsic need to do something, I have learned that doing something may not be best. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to observe and rely on my critical care colleagues. We are learning from each other. The collaboration among specialties at our hospital has been amazing. Once a week, I have a conference call with my colleagues in ID. My colleagues across the states have been

toll this situation is taking is real, and many of us continue to internalize it and move on. The normal problems still exist, but COVID-19 has drawn so much attention that we have to focus even harder to solve them. The pressure is overwhelming. At VCOM, I was part of the 2004 Tsunami Relief team. The mental clips have stayed with me: the lone shoe on the beach, a girl carrying her baby brother and a little boy re-enacting how the ocean took his parents. I remember our conversation at VCOM about the need to debrief after traumatic events, feeling helpless in a situation that was much larger than us and being told that it was okay to go back to my life. Those words have given me the grace to leave the hospital and start over again the next day.”

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