Contact: Sam Roth, sroth@acc.org, 202-375-6582

WASHINGTON (Sep 29, 2021) -

Devesh Rai, MD, FACC, watched from the U.S. as his relatives living in India faced hospital crowding, health misinformation and critical illness during the coronavirus delta variant surge in spring 2021. Currently completing cardiac care training at Rochester General Hospital in New York, Rai writes about the difficulties of being an immigrant physician separated from his family during the coronavirus pandemic in a viewpoint article publishing online today in JACC: Case Reports.

As COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out to the public in the U.S. in March 2021, cases of the delta variant of coronavirus were slowly increasing in India. The new variant strain and relaxed social distancing measures contributed to an overwhelming workload for hospitals. Hospitals began to experience shortages of resources such as personal protective equipment, hospital beds, supplemental oxygen and ventilators.

“I was second-guessing myself. Why was I here? Was I selfish for not being back home?” Rai said. “Like many immigrant physicians, these questions still make me restless at night. The guilt can be paralyzing. I do my best to provide comfort and advice. But mostly, I feel helpless.”

Rai said, “Every Indian immigrant physician has similar stories and has felt these emotions. … We are torn by the juxtaposition of what is happening back at home against the world-class care that we are privileged to provide here.”

To read more about Rai’s experience, email Sam Roth at sroth@acc.org for a full copy of the paper.

The American College of Cardiology envisions a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes. As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the mission of the College and its 54,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and to improve heart health. The ACC bestows credentials upon cardiovascular professionals who meet stringent qualifications and leads in the formation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The College also provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research through its world-renowned JACC Journals, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions. For more, visit acc.org.

The ACC’s family of JACC Journals rank among the top cardiovascular journals in the world for scientific impact. The flagship journal, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) — and family of specialty journals consisting of JACC: Advances, JACC: Asia, JACC: Basic to Translational Science, JACC: CardioOncology, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, JACC: Case Reports, JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology and JACC: Heart Failure — pride themselves on publishing the top peer-reviewed research on all aspects of cardiovascular disease. Learn more at JACC.org.

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