The Urban Resident

Local Doc on the Block

Category: David C

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Community Life / Covid / David C

Covid, Community, and Me

…the experiences of this past year have changed me profoundly and in ways I still do not yet understand. It means some days I can feel my brain nod along to the evidence and statistics that, through immunization, my risk of getting it again and becoming severely ill are virtually nil, and yet still reflexively reach for the mask and sanitizer in my pocket. It means some days I am happy to shake your hand and others I may involuntarily pause or stand a few feet further than I need to, frozen by an anxiety that is often unpredictable and bewildering. It means some days I am all smiles and laughter and some days I am expressionless and tired. It means some days I am overwhelmed by painful memories and some days I am seeking to create new and joyful ones. It means that I am sorry if there are times my actions and mood catch you by surprise; I am usually more surprised than you…

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David C

Graduation: the Fifth Floor

This address was given for an Internal Medicine residency graduation event on June 3, 2021. It is lightly edited for clarity and the scripted portion is below. What does it mean to graduate in the year 2021? Future generations of residents will undoubtedly ask you, “What was it like to...

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Community Life / David C / Justice

Fatherhood

It was hard to hear him over the rhythmic humming of the ventilation, so I leaned in as his other classmates filtered out of the room. “How do you be a dad?” As a pediatrician, most of the questions I am asked are technical ones.  What is this rash?  How...

Wilmington shooting map as per 6-2-18 since beginning of record keeping in 2011 by News Journal. 1

David C / Violence

That Unique Desolation

This post has been dormant since March 29, 2016, but its title and its content have persistently been on my mind since.  The other day at some social gathering someone asked me what my hobbies were and, after thinking for a moment, said that it was studying firearm violence.  They...

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Community Life / Daily Life / David C / Reflections

In Memoriam

Dwight and I sat in his small apartment and talked about our memories from Pine Street, the neighborhood we had first become friends and neighbors.  He was grinning in a mischievous way and I knew something good was coming.  “When I first met you, you were juggling outside, and I thought,” he...

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Community Life / David C / Justice

Dead Bodies and Lamentations

What do you do with a dead body in the room? My first dead patient arrived that way.  He was half naked, pupils blown, head bashed in from a car accident in which he was thrown through the windshield.  It was my first week on the wards as a medical student...