We are the Future: Reflections from a Seattle Dermatologist in the COVID-19 Era
Dr. Daniel Sugai is a dermatologist practicing in Bellevue, WA. Dr. Sugai specializes in skincare. Dermatologists evaluate and manage both common and uncommon skin conditions. These conditions include acne, psoriasis, warts, skin infections, atopic dermatitis, herpes simplex and more. Dermatologists are also experts in... more
“Run away, but we're running in circles. Run away, run away. I dare you to do something. I'm waiting on you again.” -Post Malone, Circles
I excised a bump out of a patient’s chest and it turned out to be a recurrent tumor of breast cancer. I called to tell her the bad news, holding back tears as she is one of my nicest patients, and she replied, “Thank you doc for your sympathies but I always say life is the same dammed thing happening over and over again.”
I thought deeply about this. It could mean that you are stagnant in life. You complain that you are not getting what you want but maybe it’s because you’re not asking for it. You may not be where you want to be but maybe you’re not setting yourself up for it and lack preparation.
It can also mean that history repeats itself. Whether it’s events we cannot control or we make the same bad decisions over and over again, history will repeat itself. Taiwan has FIVE COVID-19 deaths as of today and it illustrates how prepared they were after what they went through battling another strain of coronavirus in 2003: SARS.
I am considered a millennial. An old millennial but still a millennial. Before I would join the older gens and use millennials as the butt of the joke and make fun of their slang: Lit. Turnt AF. Netflix and chill. Bae.
Now I am embracing our generation. Our generation took part in the start of the internet and Facebook. I remember those turquoise-backed iMacs in my public elementary school in Hawaii. We played Snake on Nokias. We remember the day the twin towers fell. I graduated from college and started med school during the great stock market crash and recession. We helped elect our first African American President.
Our generation will make up the leaders of the future. We need to prepare ourselves if this ever happens again. Do your part, be good to your elders and kids, and represent your generation! Stay home during this time, learn all that you can about things you never had time to read about and get ready for your next move when this is all over!
I like it when old people say our generation is doomed.
Said no one ever.
Daniel Sugai, MD, FAAD
Dr. Daniel Sugai is a board-certified dermatologist in Bellevue, WA. He did his residency training at Harvard Medical School and specializes in medical, cosmetic and surgical dermatology and is a Top Doctor and Top Dermatologist 2020 recipient. His wife, Dr. Erina Sugai, is an internal medicine Hospitalist physician in Seattle, WA.
