• August 30th marks the 5th anniversary of Oliver Sack’s death. I am re-reading his autobiography, which is one of my favorite books ever.

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• An exciting list of books coming out in fall. HT to Adam Grant.

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• “During the Vietnam War, these physician-scientists were called ‘yellow berets.’ They are what we need to fight Covid-19.”

Physicians who also have extensive training in scientific methods, often a Ph.D., are ideally suited to learn from the unusual clinical manifestations of Covid-19, such as strokes in young adults and autoimmune Kawasaki syndrome in children. Physician-scientists, however, are becoming extinct in the United States, comprising only about 1% of all physicians today, and with few young clinician researchers joining their ranks.

HAIDER J. WARRAICH

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• A fascinating interview with Atul Gawande, MD via the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.

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• A Transplant Surgeon’s Story of Surviving COVID-19.

“When we were told to prepare for the  COVID-19 crisis in mid-March by the New York State leadership, we were still fully operational in our transplant programs, but we were not wearing proper PPEs. About a week after performing a living donor liver transplant, I started to feel sick. I immediately knew this was not the regular flu because the level of muscle pain was something I’ve never experienced before. “

Read the whole essay here.

Until the next time.