Starting the day with the tragic reality of sadness…I knew it was bad when my translator, Dema Alzein, started tearing up before she could tell me what the patient had said. Followed by a brief moment of happiness at the end of the day.

“Doctor, he won’t eat. He won’t take any milk, either.” I look down at a bawling 21 month old, his mouth covered with sugary glaze; his attempts to fight me off from examining him are futile, given he won’t let go of the lollipop he has fisted tightly in each...

I couldn’t sleep last night. At 4, I woke up, my jetlagged body allowing my mind to race; after a while I simply got up and began to prepare. I Facetimed my kids and my wife separately, everyone carrying out their usual routines without me. My absence from home gnaws...