![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/adv\/alumni-news-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/drjeffreyle_portrait-225x300.jpg\")
Dr. Jeffrey Le \u201907<\/p><\/div>\n
Dr. Jeffrey Le \u201907 graduated from the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ with a degree in music. He was a member of the Midnight Ramblers<\/a> a cappella group, with whom he traveled extensively, bringing music and joy to audiences around the world.<\/p>\n As a University Kauffman scholar<\/a>, Le added a fifth year to his undergraduate program, during which he dedicated that time to the Hopeman Memorial Carillon program<\/a>. That\u2019s when he learned to play the elaborate bell system, organized an initiative to repair them, and was instrumental in revitalizing a student carillon performance group.<\/p>\n After graduating, Le moved from his home town of Rochester to New York City, with a brief stint in Philadelphia along the way. He shifted career aspirations then, too. He moved from music to medicine and earned a medical degree from the New York Institute of Technology in Long Island.<\/p>\n Last summer, Le finished his residency and is now a board certified internist. Singing and music continue to be a major part of his life, though. In May of 2019, Le even performed at Rockefeller Center at a concert hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro from The<\/em> Fresh Prince of Bel-Air <\/em>(concert pictured above). He also opened for a Boyz II Men, Gavin DeGraw, and Imagine Dragons show.<\/p>\n Le\u2019s medical training isn\u2019t over yet. He\u2019s specializing in cardiology and is now part of a three-year-long fellowship program at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. But, just a few months into his fellowship, COVID-19 hit.<\/p>\n Very quickly\u2014almost overnight, Le says\u2014his work at the hospital shifted from working with cardiology patients to exclusively caring for COVID-19 patients. \u201cSince I am board certified, I am now responsible for a whole unit of COVID-19 patients,\u201d he says, noting that his 60-80 hour weeks are long, hard, and intense, with some shifts lasting up to 24 hours.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1588020826828{padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}”]\u201cShe was short of breath and we didn\u2019t know why. We thought maybe she had fluid in her lungs. Maybe it was heart failure. One day, I went in to see her and she wasn\u2019t breathless, which is an excellent metric of health. She was speaking in full sentences, too, and she talked to me about what she wanted to do when she went home.<\/p>\n Then, just two hours later, I was called back into her room. She didn\u2019t look like the same person. She was pale, and she was huffing and puffing and couldn\u2019t get any air. Her decline was so different from any patient I\u2019d had before\u2014I\u2019d never seen someone crash in this way, so dramatically and fast. We intubated her, put her on a ventilator, and tested her for COVID-19. Not surprisingly, her test was positive.<\/p>\n This was a learning experience for me\u2014to see just how quickly a COVID-19 patient\u2019s condition can worsen. Luckily, hers is one of the good stories. We extubated her two weeks later, treated her the best we could, and she continued to improve.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1588020837256{padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}”]\u201cEarly on, I remember one of my patients. He was in his mid-50s, and his health went downhill fast. He went from being at work one day to being hospitalized the next. He missed his wife and three kids so much, and it was heartbreaking to watch.<\/p>\n Compounding that is the fact that we, as care providers, have to limit our exposure to our patients. We can\u2019t go into their rooms as often as we normally would and we have to limit the amount of time in there, too. We bundle care for efficiency and increased safety. So, before I go into someone\u2019s room, I ask the nurses if that patient needs medication. I then give that medication instead of having a nurse do it, as would normally be the case. This limits exposure for all and it doesn\u2019t waste precious PPE [personal protective equipment].<\/p>\n I\u2019ll forever have this etched in my mind, too . . . as I walk down the hospital\u2019s hallways every day, I often glance into patient rooms. I see some of them laying there, just peering out through their windows. They look so very lonely. When this is all over, I know I won\u2019t forget that.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Le has vowed to himself to spend a few extra minutes with every patient no matter their condition or diagnosis, including COVID-19. \u201cI became a doctor because I care about people and want to help them,\u201d he says. \u201cI hope that any time I can spend with them makes some difference in how they feel and how quickly they can recover.\u201d<\/p>\n Recently, Le was approached by NBC News to share his perspective as a physician on New York City\u2019s frontlines. He was interviewed for\u00a0The Today\u00a0<\/em>Show<\/em>\u00a0and was part of an\u00a0NBC news<\/a>\u00a0story that includes a video featuring several health care professionals answering the question \u201cI wish I had known this\u201d about the virus.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_raw_html]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[\/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]Read Dr. Jeffrey Le\u2019s message to his hometown of Rochester in <\/em>City newspaper<\/em><\/a>. Follow him on Instagram @drjeffle<\/a>.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1588076568585{padding-top: 5px !important;padding-right: 15px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;padding-left: 15px !important;background-color: #e6f3fa !important;}”]We all can do something to help. Consider\u00a0donating supplies or food<\/a>,\u00a0giving blood<\/a>\u00a0(URMC is facing a critical shortage),\u00a0making a gift to our URMC COVID-19 emergency fund<\/a>, and supporting our\u00a0student emergency fund<\/a>.<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1588016174151{border-top-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;border-top-color: #999999 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”]<\/p>\n \u2014 Kristine Thompson April 2020<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr. Jeffrey Le \u201907 goes from music to medicine to the frontlines of the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":16072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[272,552,192,102,212],"class_list":["post-15942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-alumni","tag-covid-19","tag-health-and-medicine","tag-music","tag-new-york-city"],"yoast_head":"\nLe recalls his first COVID-19 patient, a 70-year-old woman:<\/h3>\n
Le reflects on another difficult COVID-19 reality\u2014that patients cannot have visitors. He elaborates:<\/h3>\n