Neurosurgery Blog
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A Celebration of Teamwork
It was a fifth-grade current events project that first brought the pandemic home for me. My 10-year-old daughter, who attends a Catholic school on the Upper East Side of New York, was writing about an evolving epidemic called coronavirus. It was February and we had just returned from a family vacation — the virus was in the news but still seemed very far away from us.
Dr. Ronald Brisman: An Appreciation
I was deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of Dr. Ronald Brisman, another neurosurgeon lost to Covid-19. Dr. Brisman, like Dr. Jim Goodrich, the pediatric neurosurgeon who recently passed away, was a product of The Neurological Institute training program, which was then part of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, now NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr.
A Virus That Knows No Boundaries
The Covid-19 pandemic claimed another talented neurosurgeon this week with the passing of Dr. Ronald Brisman. Coming so soon on the heels of Dr. Jim Goodrich’s death from the virus, this news was especially hard to hear.
Redeployed to the Covid-19 Front Lines
I began my seven-year neurosurgical training program in 2013, so by March of this year I was just about done – then the pandemic changed everything. NewYork-Presbyterian is the top-rated hospital in the city and one of the best in the country, and the emergency rooms and ICUs started filling up quickly with Covid-19 patients. Every health care provider in the hospital was put on notice that this was an all-hands-on-deck effort. No matter what department we normally worked in, we should be prepared to be called upon to care for these patients.
Keeping Your Brain Healthy During the Pandemic
These are unprecedented times, and we are facing unimaginable challenges. The health care heroes who are saving lives every day are enduring unthinkable levels of stress in addition to the physical dangers they face each day. There are so many other people right now whose anxiety levels are through the roof. The virus, and the fear of the unknown, are primal threats that have us all worrying.
An Immersive Experience in Tanzania
I came across the Weill Cornell Medicine Global Health Neurosurgery Fellowship by pure chance one evening last year in London, when I typed “global neurosurgery” into a search engine. I emailed Dr. Härtl immediately, attaching my CV and asking about the possibility of my being his fellow in Tanzania. Although it was a Sunday evening, Dr. Härtl responded within just two hours and we set up a date for an informal Skype interview.