'Into the Covid ICU': A New Doctor Bears Witness to the Isolation, Inequities of Pandemic

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on SoundCloud.

This week marks a grim milestone: Half a million Americans have died of covid-19. KHN reporter Jenny Gold, in collaboration with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, spent eight months following one first-year medical resident working on the front lines of the pandemic.

Dr. Paloma Marin-Nevarez graduated from the Stanford University medical school in June, right before the virus began its second major surge. She’s one of more than 30,000 new doctors who started residencies in 2020. Just weeks after graduating, Marin-Nevarez began training as an ER doctor at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, one of the areas in California hardest hit by the pandemic.

Listeners follow Marin-Nevarez as she faces the loneliness and isolation of being a new doctor, working 80 hours a week in the era of masks and physical distancing. She also witnesses the inequality of the pandemic, with Latino, Black and Native American people dying of covid-19 at much higher rates than white people. Marin-Nevarez finds herself surrounded by death and having to counsel families about the loss of loved ones. We view the pandemic through the eyes of a rookie doctor, finding her footing on the front lines of the virus.

CREDITSReported by: Jenny GoldProduced by: Neroli PriceEdited by: Brett Myers, Deborah Anderluh and Taunya EnglishProduction manager: Amy MostafaProduction assistance: Brett Simpson and Ameetra GanatraMixing, sound design and music by: Jim Briggs and Fernando Arruda Special thanks: Dr. Atul Grover, Tochi Ajiwe and Samantha GottliebExecutive producer: Kevin SullivanHost: Al LetsonDigital producer: Sarah Mirk Episode art: Heidi de Marco/KHN General counsel: Victoria Baranetsky

Transcript

Reveal transcripts are produced by a third-party transcription service and may contain errors. Please be aware that the official record for Reveal’s radio stories is the audio.

This story was produced by KHN (Kaiser Health News), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>‘Into the Covid ICU’: A New Doctor Bears Witness to the Isolation, Inequities of Pandemic</h1>
<div>	<span class="byline">Jenny Gold</span>
		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2021-03-01T02:00:00-08:00">
			March 1, 2021		</time>
		</div>
<p><em>Can’t see the audio player? <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-719970294/staffing-up-at-hhs">Click here to listen on SoundCloud</a>.</em></p>	<p>This week marks a grim milestone: Half a million Americans have died of covid-19. KHN reporter Jenny Gold, in collaboration with <a href="https://revealnews.org/episodes/into-the-covid-icu/">Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting</a> and PRX, spent eight months following one first-year medical resident working on the front lines of the pandemic.</p><p>Dr. Paloma Marin-Nevarez graduated from the Stanford University medical school in June, right before the virus began its second major surge. She’s one of more than 30,000 new doctors who started residencies in 2020. Just weeks after graduating, Marin-Nevarez began training as an ER doctor at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, one of the areas in California hardest hit by the pandemic.</p><p>Listeners follow Marin-Nevarez as she faces the loneliness and isolation of being a new doctor, working 80 hours a week in the era of masks and physical distancing. She also witnesses the inequality of the pandemic, with Latino, Black and Native American people dying of covid-19 at much higher rates than white people. Marin-Nevarez finds herself surrounded by death and having to counsel families about the loss of loved ones. We view the pandemic through the eyes of a rookie doctor, finding her footing on the front lines of the virus.</p>CREDITSReported by: Jenny GoldProduced by: Neroli PriceEdited by: Brett Myers, Deborah Anderluh and Taunya EnglishProduction manager: Amy MostafaProduction assistance: Brett Simpson and Ameetra GanatraMixing, sound design and music by: Jim Briggs and Fernando Arruda Special thanks: Dr. Atul Grover, Tochi Ajiwe and Samantha GottliebExecutive producer: Kevin SullivanHost: Al LetsonDigital producer: Sarah Mirk Episode art: Heidi de Marco/KHN General counsel: Victoria Baranetsky	<h2>Transcript</h2><p><em>Reveal transcripts are produced by a third-party transcription service and may contain errors. Please be aware that the official record for Reveal’s radio stories is the audio.</em></p><p><em><em>This story was produced by <a href="https://khn.org/about-us">KHN</a> (Kaiser Health News), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us/">KFF</a> (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.</em></em></p><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

Some elements may be removed from this article due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about available photos or other content, please contact NewsWeb@kff.org.