The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Ankylosing Spondylitis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Workforce
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Reflections on Starting a Rheumatology Fellowship During the Pandemic

Reflections on Starting a Rheumatology Fellowship During the Pandemic

October 19, 2020 • By Nicole K. Zagelbaum Ward, DO, MPH, with Richard S. Panush, MD, MACP, MACR

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF
Mongkolchon Akesin / shutterstock.com

Mongkolchon Akesin / shutterstock.com

Some have opined, cynically, that transformative changes will not come to medical education and training, and to healthcare, until pigs fly. Well, in 2009–10, “swine flu,” and now we are in the midst of an unprecedented and disruptive pandemic, affecting virtually all aspects of our lives, including fellowships.1

You Might Also Like
  • Letters: Reflections on Rheumatology Fellowship Guidelines
  • Researchers Discuss Viability of Rheumatology Education During the COVID‐19 Pandemic
  • From the Expert: Dr. Anne Bass Addresses Fellowship Training in Rheumatology
Explore This Issue
October 2020

As someone who started a rheumatology fellowship in July, permit me to share some of my thoughts.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

March 15

I am in my last months of medicine residency at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. I am on the team caring for the first patients with COVID-19 in my hospital in Westchester County, N.Y. They are from a nearby nursing home, and we know many more will follow. I am placed in quarantine. From home, I help triage resident physicians, fellows, support staff and nurses who were all exposed to my patient. We don’t know how sick others may become.

I call my husband, who is completing ophthalmology training 300 miles away. He tells me he does not have any symptoms.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

I breathe a sigh of relief, but still worry.

April 6

Respirator masks, face shields and an armor of personal protective equipment are the new normal. Medicine residents are pulled from clinics to cover intensive care units. Didactics are canceled. Patients are alone, visitors not allowed, and interactions with family members have been reduced to plasma screens.

I call my husband. It is raining in Eastern Pennsylvania. I worry.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The world is dark.

April 17

It is 3:18 a.m. My heart is broken as I stand with the cardiac resuscitation team after multiple failed attempts to bring life back to a patient suffering complications of COVID-19. He was 42 years old; his only comorbidity was obesity. His death was sudden. I tell his mother the news, and we cry together.

May–June

Many of my peers—residents and fellow
physicians—are sick. Some struggle to simultaneously care for their family members. Several attending physicians have been hospitalized for complications of COVID-19. One attending physician passed away. People are dying. I feel helpless.

June 30

I call my husband on the last day of residency. He remains well. I still worry.

I don’t know what the next phase of my professional life—rheumatology fellowship—will bring. Medicine has been a matter of life and death on a day-to-day basis. What will it be like in rheumatology? What will education, training and patient care look like during the pandemic? How will I matter and make a difference for my patients?

Pages: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page

Filed Under: Education & Training, Professional Topics Tagged With: Fellows-in-TrainingIssue: October 2020

You Might Also Like:
  • Letters: Reflections on Rheumatology Fellowship Guidelines
  • Researchers Discuss Viability of Rheumatology Education During the COVID‐19 Pandemic
  • From the Expert: Dr. Anne Bass Addresses Fellowship Training in Rheumatology
  • Fellowship Training Goes Virtual: COVID-19 Pandemic Creates Training Challenges

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2021 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.