The following is a conversation between Dr. Pooja Kumar, Internal Medicine doctor at the Centinela Hospital and Memorial Hospital of Gardena in Los Angeles, and Alyssa Sofat (15), The Fem Word contributor.

Pooja Kumar.jpg — Dr. Pooja Kumar

On the frontlines at Centinela Hospital and Memorial Hospital of Gardena, Los Angeles

Alyssa Sofat:

Hi, my name is Alyssa Sofat and I'm a contributor to The Fem Word. As you all know, we are still in the middle of this pandemic and has been really hard for everybody, especially our healthcare workers. Today we are talking with Dr. Pooja Kumar. She joins me from Los Angeles, California where she is practicing medicine at Centinela Hospital and Memorial Hospital of Gardena. We are so happy to have you today.

Dr. Pooja Kumar:

Hi, I am happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

Alyssa :

You are on the frontlines seeing patients every day at the hospital. Walk us through the hardest challenge you've had to face during this pandemic.

Dr. Kumar:

The hardest challenges that I've had to face, well, there's two of them. One is people just want to see their family. So when their loved one gets admitted to the hospital, we're calling them, we're saying, you don't have to make these difficult decisions about end of life or continuing aggressive treatment. People say to me all the time, why can't I just come in and see them? That's my grandmother or that's my mom or whomever it is. Then the other thing is we've had a couple of cases where some members of the family get the virus and they don't do so well and they end up in my care in the hospital and other members of the family also get the virus in their home and they're fine. So that's just kind of really tragic for families to deal with.

Alyssa :

It must be so different for you going into the hospital every day. What is it like for you and do you have the equipment you need?

Dr. Kumar:

Yes, we have the equipment that we need but the amount of it is scarce. So if we need equipment, we can get it. But whereas before, we used one N95 mask per patient, but now, we are asked to use these N95 masks for extended periods of time. Same thing goes along with head protective gear and with gowns. So it's not that we don't have it, it's that we don't have enough of it. We're forced to use the same equipment and the same gear over and over again.

Alyssa :

I am glad you at least have the equipment you need to keep safe! Since you are taking great risks every day, what motivates you?

Dr. Kumar:

What motivates me is that I have a family of my own, I have children and I have my parents who are in the high risk category and to know that this could be any of us is really scary. It could be me and that's also another scary thing, this virus doesn't just choose who gets ill from it. I've seen people who are in the exact same position as me who have this, so it just really motivates me that this could be any of us and we really want to do best for everyone.

Alyssa :

Not only has this changed your life at work, but it has also your life at home. I know you have young kids, so how are you keeping everyone safe?

Dr. Kumar:

Well, that is a big question for us here. It's changing as things evolve. What we're trying to do is make sure that I'm super protected at work all the time, showering, and changing my clothes as soon as I come in. I don't even enter in the house before I completely change and shower. We are limiting the amount of interaction, physical interaction, I have with my children and my family, trying to distance as much as I can at home and wearing masks. We try to make it fun for the kids, to decorate the masks and do all of that. So it's, the coming home part that is really challenging.

Alyssa:

Do you think the public is taking these precautions as seriously as they should be?

Dr. Kumar:

I think we are now, and I think that prior to this it was a slow start. I think that led to what we saw a few weeks ago in huge surges in hospital admissions. The discussions to get back into, quote unquote, normal life is a little concerning right now. I think everyone's done a great job.

Alyssa:

All of us are waiting for this to end, but it doesn't seem like it's going to end for a long time. What is your advice to anyone listening?

Dr. Kumar:

We're all in this together. Outside of going to work, our work life has changed, our whole life has changed, our children are home and so everyone has the same motivation, we all want things to go back to the speed we were before or if not at least a new speed. My advice to everyone is, hang on a little bit longer. Just listen to the leadership right now and what they recommend. They are going to try phasing it out so everybody can get back to normal life, try to adhere to that as best as possible. The thing with this is, it's unchartered territory, so we're all navigating through this as we go on and on. That means things can change one day to another. It's frustrating, but we just have to be patient.

Alyssa:

Before we close this out, do you want to say anything else?

Dr. Kumar:

Thank you. Thank you to everybody. Thank you to the people who are at home and just staying there. Thank you to the people who are checking in on their neighbors, making sure that they're fed and safe. Thank you to the people sending care packages to the healthcare workers. Thank you to the people that are taking care of each other, it's really important, it's really leadership and the camaraderie that the public has shown with each other has really been amazing. So we thank you. Everybody's doing a great job. Hang in there. We'll get through this.

Alyssa:

We really commend our healthcare workers who are trying to keep us safe. So thank you for being with us today and saving lives.

Dr. Kumar:

Of course. Stay safe everyone.Thank you.

On the Frontlines: Balancing Life at Work and Home