Kingsborough Community College alumnus, Dr Kwesi Blackman ’07
Brooklyn, NY – KCC biology graduate Kwesi Blackman first became interested in medicine at eight years old. “I can remember watching a show on TLC – back when it was more than “reality” TV – of actual doctors seeing patients and doing surgeries. It was amazing to me that people were doing such things. That show, and my yearly physical exam, was the only exposure to medicine I received, but it sparked my interest in medicine.”
Fast forward several years: After graduating Kingsborough in 2007, the Flatbush resident (via Georgetown, Guyana) earned a bachelor’s degree at Northeastern University, a medical degree from Howard University, and an MBA from Long Island University. He is currently completing his internal medical residency at SUNY Downstate Center, with rotations at University Hospital of Brooklyn, Brooklyn VA, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Kings County Hospital.
“I don’t have any time for myself, but I enjoy taking care of the medical needs of patients from the community in which I grew up in,” he noted. “Although I’m tired when I get off of work, I still have to study and spend time with my two-year-old son and fiancé.”
Before the pandemic hit, Blackman managed the medical care of patients admitted to the hospital (inpatient) for acute care and patients with chronic medical conditions in the clinic (outpatient). During the first COVID surge he only worked inpatient hospital care. “From March to June 2020, I worked the inpatient night shift at Kings County Hospital, with one night off each week.”
His first experience with COVID still haunts him: An obese 34-year-old male had come in near the end of a long shift, with difficulty breathing. “His vitals and labs were stable, except for a slight elevation in his carbon dioxide levels. His chest X-ray showed abnormalities, possibly pneumonia, but it wasn’t too concerning. He was breathing well, only requiring minimal oxygen, but his oxygen levels would fall when he was taken off the oxygen.”
The patient insisted he’d never been sick and was not taking medication and wanted to go home. He reluctantly agreed to be admitted for observation and to wait for his COVID test results. After sharing his findings with the incoming day team, Blackman went home, thinking that the patient would be discharged sometime that day.
When he asked after the patient the next night, he was stunned to learn he’d passed away. “The COVID results returned positive and he was started on treatment. His difficulty breathing had quickly progressed to the point where he had to be intubated and transferred to the ICU.” The patient had also admitted that he’d been asthmatic when he was younger.
“Although I was seeing patients coding and dying from COVID, I’d never experienced or expected someone so young to deteriorate so rapidly. Unfortunately, he was just the first.”
As the numbers of COVID patients started to rise, Blackman came to the conclusion that COVID didn’t care if the person was young or old. “The medications we gave helped some and not others. Sometimes the disease was rapid, sometimes protracted. I think this experience was so bad for me because it was my first, and also because it made me question myself, and my abilities so much. I’m guessing COVID has done that to a lot of physicians, healthcare professionals, politicians, law enforcement, and education officials. We thought we had things figured out. COVID showed us that, no matter how much knowledge we have or plans we make, there is always something that cannot be planned for.”
Some experiences were bittersweet. Like one with a non-responsive 90-year-old COVID patient who’d recently been extubated and moved from the ICU to the medical floor.
That night, the patient’s daughter called and asked if she could speak to her father. When told he was unable to speak, she said she would at least like him to hear her voice. Blackman thought about the two iPads the hospital had just purchased and offered to try and set up a Skype call at the end of his shift.
Sometime after midnight, he placed the call. When the daughter picked up, he noticed there were several other windows on the call: She had contacted family members from around the country to join in. “The outpouring of love was amazing. Based on his minimal responsiveness and recent lab results, I was afraid he would pass away that night. But when his family members started speaking to him and calling his name, he startled me. He became more alert, trying to open his eyes and grunting in response to the voices. It was like the love of his family gave him life.”
The family continued the calls until the patient passed away during the week. “This experience was so amazing to me because I got to see the end of a good life. Through those calls I got to experience the love for him.”
Blackman warns that medicine is a difficult path. He suggests future medical professionals get as much exposure to medicine as they can. “Be humble and be ready to be a lifelong learner. No matter how smart you are, medicine has a way of breaking you down and showing you that you do not know everything.”
About Kingsborough Community College
Founded in 1963, Kingsborough Community College is Brooklyn’s only community college and is part of the City University of New York (CUNY). Located on a 70-acre campus in Manhattan Beach, Kingsborough remains firmly committed to its mission of providing both liberal arts and career education, promoting student learning and development, as well as strengthening and serving its diverse community. Kingsborough provides a high-quality education through associate degree programs that prepare students for transfer to senior colleges or entry into the workforce. Serving approximately 10,000 full- and part-time students annually and an additional 20,000 students in its expanding continuing education program, Kingsborough has earned recognition as a Leader College of Distinction for excellence in student success by Achieving the Dream, and has been identified as a Top 10 Community College in the nation by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program.
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CONTACT: Cheryl Todmann | cheryl.todmann@kbcc.cuny.edu | C: (646) 897-2508 | T: (718) 368-6760