Reentry Reflections: Views on COVID-19 From a Global Health Trainee.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: COVID-19 — : coronavirus disease 2019 It is a warm day in Kampala. I walk through the pediatric emergency center, taking stock of the day’s supplies before the shift begins. The medicine drawer holds one vial of dexamethasone and a few vials of adrenaline, atropine, furosemide, and phenytoin. The head nurse greets me as she does every morning and informs me of the somber news from the last shift; a child with generalized tetanus was admitted in the late afternoon and quickly decompensated. We shake our heads sadly, acknowledging that it was a difficult case. There are no ventilators in the emergency center. I spent one year in Uganda through my combined residency program in pediatrics and global child health, acclimating to a vibrant culture and nuanced pathology. Often I encountered the logistical challenges brought on by resource limitation and the tragedies that frequently accompanied them. On reentry to the United States in January 2020, I, like many physicians and trainees who spend significant time abroad, grappled with the vast differences between medical systems and the applicability of my international experiences to my practice here.1 At the same time, a disease was emerging that would blur the line between global and domestic health and would give my training new relevance on home soil. On January 30th, 2020, the World Health Organization … Address correspondence to Michelle Javier, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail: javier{at}bcm.edu