Perspectives S35/Ep52 Burning Out on the COVID Frond Lines: A Doctor's Memoir of Fatherhood, Race and Perseverance in the Pandemic

On February 23, 2020, Dhaval Desai and his wife, Yogita, welcomed their new son into the world. With the arrival of Kaveh to join his four-year-old sister Kaiya, their family at last felt complete. “A promising year lay ahead,” he reflected. Yes, it would be chaotic—both physicians, Dhaval and Yogita would now have to juggle two demanding careers with the demands of an infant and a preschooler—but nothing they couldn’t handle. Then, a new virus arrived. In BURNING OUT ON THE COVID FRONT LINES: A Doctor’s Memoir of Fatherhood, Race and Perseverance in the Pandemic Dhaval R. Desai, M.D., offers an honest account of his life, his work, and his state of mind and well-being from March 9, 2020, when he returned. after a ten-day paternity leave, to his job at a large Atlanta hospital, through nearly three years of unprecedented chaos. As a frontline physician and healthcare leader, a devoted father to a “pandemic baby,” and a member of an ethnic minority in the South, Dr. Desai shares his unique perspective on the importance of refuting misinformation, reinforcing compassion for all patients, prioritizing self-care for healthcare providers, overcoming stigmas related to race, gender, and mental health, and restoring the public’s trust in the medical community.