We face COVID-19 head on as the pandemic has hit Southern California particularly hard. As internal medicine practitioners, you will be part of the workforce saving the lives COVID patients.
We are the Frontline
For most of us, responding to COVID-19 has energized our calling to internal medicine. And as the infection persists in the community, we recognize the ongoing need to manage the disease. Therefore as a training program, we are dedicated to preparing you to care for COVID patients like all other patients. Our residents have been a resilient force directly caring for hospitalized COVID patients.
Our Experience with COVID
With a disproportionate impact on Hispanic/Latino communities, Olive View has been at the forefront of the response in Los Angeles.
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center is fortunate to have the facilities to support up to 30 patients in negative-pressure rooms in our Isolation Unit and up to 22 patients in negative-pressure, ICU-level rooms. During the first wave around April 2020, our medicine services reached a peak of 42 COVID patients on a given day, accounting for one-third of hospitalized medical patients and three-quarters of ICU patients.
Olive View is guided by our own local infectious disease specialists, intensivists, and hospitalist attendings in coordination with the larger Department of Health Services and Department of Public Health. We continue to offer our patients convalescent plasma and remdesivir among other treatments.
Safety is Our Priority
Our hospital leadership and every team member take part in personal and community safety.
Since March 2020, we have instituted universal masking for health care workers, increased social distancing with telework and telemedicine visits, enforced symptom and temperature checks for all workers and patients, created separate patient triage areas, and implemented COVID testing for all hospitalized patients. Personal protective equipment has been readily available for all health care workers, including trainees. Today, we are proud to report that zero residents have contracted COVID-19 while performing patient care.
Testing is available for residents on the Olive View campus, at UCLA, and through Los Angeles County testing sites.
Medical Education in the Era of COVID
Out of respect for personal safety and local mandates, we have transformed our educational experiences. We observe social distancing for our educational conferences. We have expanded workspaces on the wards and in the clinics to increase physical distancing. And we have implemented tele-preceptorship where possible. For this 2020-2021 interview season, we are following AAIM recommendations for all remote interviewing.