Dr. Susanna Tan (蔡欣美) of CKS high school batch 2003 is an infectious diseases specialist at the infection prevention and control department of a hospital in Los Angeles, California for the last two years.

Her job has always had its ups and downs but dealing with this unknown pandemic has become even more challenging. In between patient care, a large portion of her day has now been dedicated to meetings and local policy making to help deal with the situation.

As a result, they have instituted other mechanisms as guided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), including setting up screening stations and converting many visits to telehealth visits. Her hospital logistics group has also been making sure that they have enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for all their staff taking care of all types of patients, including those with COVID-19.

Doc Susana pays tribute to her alma mater, saying: "School serves an integral part in the life of a young child growing up, and I think many of my better values including my work ethics have been strengthened by going to CKS College, where I was fortunate enough to have had teachers who have been nothing but incredible mentors."

While she is worried about the health of her family members, she feels that it’s a blessing in disguise that she lives alone and does not have to worry about coming home to her elderly parents.

As to the nature of the virus and how she deals with patients having it, she mentioned: "There are so many questions about this disease that no one has the answers to. Researchers and scientists everywhere are working hard to come up with evidence-based knowledge such that we clinicians can applying it to clinical care, but it’s definitely a delicate balancing act of sifting through all the data and finding out which one applies to your patient."

Keep safe and stay strong, Dr. Susanna Tan.