Sanjiv Baxi is one of a number of doctors at McKinsey who have headed to the front lines to help in the coronavirus crisis. He works out of our Silicon Valley office as a consultant in our Healthcare Systems and Services and Global Public Health Practices, and he’s also an infectious diseases and preventive medicine physician with the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
In March, the Air Force summoned Sanjiv to a hospital in New York City. We caught up with him about a month into his deployment, which has been his first, and he spoke with us about what he’s been doing, how he got ready, and more.
This is your first active duty. What’s it been like?
As a major in the Air Force Reserve, I’ve been able to stay close to patient care through volunteering on weekends in hospitals for the last four years. What we’re doing now is different, and it has been extremely hard. There often isn’t much we can do for these patients outside of supportive care. Also, our patients often don’t have their families or loved ones with them. Watching someone suffer alone—and in some cases die alone—never gets easy.
Where are you seeing progress?
The innovation has been amazing. The hospital has a dedicated team for “prone positioning” that has proven to be effective. They’re responsible for turning patients so they are chest down while intubated. This helps to alleviate their discomfort and aids in their recovery.
Elsewhere, through donations of tech and electronics equipment, we’re building out a family engagement service to enable three-way conversations between providers, patients, and family over video chat.
And we’re starting to build teams that are dedicated to improving care for patients who are hospitalized for the long term and bed bound. They focus on ensuring small but dignifying things, like the prevention and treatment of bed sores, clipping nails, and oral hygiene.
Are you putting your consulting skills or knowledge to work in this situation?
In the weeks ahead of my deployment, I’d been learning a lot about what it would take to manage COVID-19 cases: capacity, surge, hospital-utilization rates. They’ve given me a good sense of what our teams can expect as we work across different situations.
I’m also bringing a heightened awareness around the way I communicate, which is something we’re trained to do with our clients. I try to frame information in a way that can be easily understood and internalized. It’s something that’s so critical with patients, families, and providers right now.
Why did you join McKinsey?
I first did a summer internship in 2008 while in medical school. I loved it but decided to go back to medical training since I wanted the opportunity to be a clinician, to experience that level of individual care that’s so intimate and fulfilling.
After working as an outpatient HIV primary-care physician and getting a PhD in epidemiology, I wanted to continue working in healthcare in a way that would bring a different kind of change. So, I came back to the firm four years ago to the Silicon Valley office to do just that.
And the Air Force Reserve?
My parents came to the U.S. from India with very little. My father borrowed $2,000 to go to graduate school and my mother had no money. They created a life here for my siblings and me that gave us every privilege and opportunity we could have ever dreamed of.
After medical training and practicing for several years, I thought being part of the reserve would be one way I could continue to serve this country through medicine. I chose the Air Force because the focus on technology, opportunities for advanced training in the next frontier (space), and the high premium on innovation.
How is this experience changing you?
I’m here for as long as I’m needed—whether that be in New York City or anywhere else. But when I do come back to the firm, I think I’ll do so reinvigorated—with another perspective on COVID-19, what it means for people, and how to think about it.
Finally, what is giving you hope right now?
I think I’m really fortunate that every day I get to see the incredible things people are doing during this pandemic. I see my wife balance her career and create a wonderful home for our two boys all while I’m away. I see the front line caregivers at the hospital come to work day in and day out to provide care to the very sick. I see clinical trials in action, New York City citizens staying home, and essential workers keep the country afloat. In a certain way, these are inspiring times.