Tara Vijayan
@nottheogdrv.bsky.social
ID doctor. NJ native. New(ish) Angeleno. Mom of 2 plus 1 rowdy pup. Wife of a primary care doctor. Daughter of immigrants (including the OG Dr. V.) If I had to pick, HIV, mycobacteria. Clinical decision making. Books, coffee, music, storytelling.
Pinned
Tara Vijayan
@nottheogdrv.bsky.social
· Jul 5
Libraries Burned, a Life Lived | NEJM
As her patients near the end of life, an infectious disease physician who knows their
stories sometimes needs to step out of her proverbial lane to help them assess and
achieve their goals of care.
www.nejm.org
There are many important perspectives and ideas to share in medicine at this moment that are more important than mine. But this is a reminder of why I keep doing what I do, despite everything. I would be honored if you took the time to read it. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
So many gems here, including a breathtaking piece by Andrew Sullivan in that famous year, 1996, when AZT, 3TC and protease inhibitors in combination changed everything.
“AZT killed more people than AIDS” is false.
I was a medical resident in the late 1980s. AZT wasn’t perfect, but it saved lives and was the first step on the way to modern HIV therapy.
Evidence, history, and context here. paulsaxmd.substack.com/p/no-azt-did...
I was a medical resident in the late 1980s. AZT wasn’t perfect, but it saved lives and was the first step on the way to modern HIV therapy.
Evidence, history, and context here. paulsaxmd.substack.com/p/no-azt-did...
No, AZT Didn't Kill More People than AIDS
Some statements are wrong enough to make your head explode.
paulsaxmd.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:22 AM
So many gems here, including a breathtaking piece by Andrew Sullivan in that famous year, 1996, when AZT, 3TC and protease inhibitors in combination changed everything.
MGMA wRVU benchmarks are ⬆️ again. I want to understand what (and who) drives these decisions. From my perspective, forcing doctors to see more patients in the same amount of time results in MORE expenditures because no one has time to think. This drives more tests, more consultations.
October 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM
MGMA wRVU benchmarks are ⬆️ again. I want to understand what (and who) drives these decisions. From my perspective, forcing doctors to see more patients in the same amount of time results in MORE expenditures because no one has time to think. This drives more tests, more consultations.
Today I shared with my med student that her piece definitely has a home somewhere, but the sting of rejection is real no matter what. I don't know if anyone else needs to hear that. To paraphrase Beckett: Ever tried, ever failed, try again, fail better. (Pic of just 2 MDs after a 75-story climb.)
October 2, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Today I shared with my med student that her piece definitely has a home somewhere, but the sting of rejection is real no matter what. I don't know if anyone else needs to hear that. To paraphrase Beckett: Ever tried, ever failed, try again, fail better. (Pic of just 2 MDs after a 75-story climb.)
Reducing Antimicrobial Use at the End of Life url:https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2838657. Thank you for the opportunity to write this commentary on a great piece by Jeong-Han Kim and colleagues in South Korea, @eliowa.bsky.social.
September 10, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Reducing Antimicrobial Use at the End of Life url:https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2838657. Thank you for the opportunity to write this commentary on a great piece by Jeong-Han Kim and colleagues in South Korea, @eliowa.bsky.social.
Colleagues- in case this was missed during summer vacation, please share. I just went to the Bowl again last week and saw Yo-Yo Ma and Angelique Kidjo. The Bowl is not the only reason to be in LA....but it is pretty spectacular. Also my ASP team is just the bee's knees.
Please consider joining our incredible faculty and ASP program at UCLA Health. Los Angeles is an incredible city and always will be. recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF10331
September 3, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Colleagues- in case this was missed during summer vacation, please share. I just went to the Bowl again last week and saw Yo-Yo Ma and Angelique Kidjo. The Bowl is not the only reason to be in LA....but it is pretty spectacular. Also my ASP team is just the bee's knees.
I was reading a handwritten timed essay I wrote on Hamlet in AP English. My teacher, who in hindsight was a saint, gave me an A- for ideas and a B+ for structure and cautioned me against superfluous citations. (I learned so much from her.) Handwritten essays may be one way to mitigate AI influence.
August 31, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I was reading a handwritten timed essay I wrote on Hamlet in AP English. My teacher, who in hindsight was a saint, gave me an A- for ideas and a B+ for structure and cautioned me against superfluous citations. (I learned so much from her.) Handwritten essays may be one way to mitigate AI influence.
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
Really important Med Ed piece in NEJM.
"Diagnosis-related group and payment models based on relative value units (RVUs) incentivize volume over value, with little focus on collaboration or coordination efforts"
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
"Diagnosis-related group and payment models based on relative value units (RVUs) incentivize volume over value, with little focus on collaboration or coordination efforts"
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Navigating the Discontinuity Crisis in Medical Education | NEJM
Discontinuity negatively affects patients, learners, and health care systems. Changes
that create continuity could improve both patient outcomes and the learning environment
for medical trainees.
www.nejm.org
June 27, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Really important Med Ed piece in NEJM.
"Diagnosis-related group and payment models based on relative value units (RVUs) incentivize volume over value, with little focus on collaboration or coordination efforts"
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
"Diagnosis-related group and payment models based on relative value units (RVUs) incentivize volume over value, with little focus on collaboration or coordination efforts"
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
#TeachID #idsky #idmeded #meded #idfellows #idfellowship @cidjournal.bsky.social State-of-the-ART Reviews: STAR reviews are great for new fellows/faculty: Abx at End of Life academic.oup.com/cid/article/...
State-of-the-Art Review: Use of Antimicrobials at the End of Life
Abstract. Navigating antibiotics at the end of life is a challenge for infectious disease (ID) physicians who remain deeply committed to providing patient-
academic.oup.com
July 9, 2025 at 11:45 PM
#TeachID #idsky #idmeded #meded #idfellows #idfellowship @cidjournal.bsky.social State-of-the-ART Reviews: STAR reviews are great for new fellows/faculty: Abx at End of Life academic.oup.com/cid/article/...
There are many important perspectives and ideas to share in medicine at this moment that are more important than mine. But this is a reminder of why I keep doing what I do, despite everything. I would be honored if you took the time to read it. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Libraries Burned, a Life Lived | NEJM
As her patients near the end of life, an infectious disease physician who knows their
stories sometimes needs to step out of her proverbial lane to help them assess and
achieve their goals of care.
www.nejm.org
July 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
There are many important perspectives and ideas to share in medicine at this moment that are more important than mine. But this is a reminder of why I keep doing what I do, despite everything. I would be honored if you took the time to read it. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Took my kids to their first protest. 1000s showed up in our sleepy little part of LA County. It was beautiful and peaceful. My favorite chant was "We stand united. We'll never be divided." 🇺🇸🗽
June 14, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Took my kids to their first protest. 1000s showed up in our sleepy little part of LA County. It was beautiful and peaceful. My favorite chant was "We stand united. We'll never be divided." 🇺🇸🗽
Please consider joining our incredible faculty and ASP program at UCLA Health. Los Angeles is an incredible city and always will be. recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF10331
June 13, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Please consider joining our incredible faculty and ASP program at UCLA Health. Los Angeles is an incredible city and always will be. recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF10331
Working on this chalk talk at home and feeling some graduation vibes. 🎓 Share feedback or your own examples of what I am trying to impart here.
June 7, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Working on this chalk talk at home and feeling some graduation vibes. 🎓 Share feedback or your own examples of what I am trying to impart here.
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
You've Got a Friend in Me: Curbside Questions Infectious Diseases Clinicians Ask Infectious Diseases Pharmacists
✅ Just Accepted
#IDSky
✅ Just Accepted
#IDSky
You've Got a Friend in Me: Curbside Questions Infectious Diseases Clinicians Ask Infectious Diseases Pharmacists
This multicenter study highlights the critical role of ID pharmacists in supporting ID consult services, with 89% of 1,518 curbside inquiries from ID clinicians resulting in clinical management changes as recommended by the pharmacist. These findings emphasize the necessity of ID pharmacists in optimizing multidisciplinary patient care.
doi.org
June 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM
You've Got a Friend in Me: Curbside Questions Infectious Diseases Clinicians Ask Infectious Diseases Pharmacists
✅ Just Accepted
#IDSky
✅ Just Accepted
#IDSky
Because I am on Bluesky today:
Phosphate binders (dosed TID in patients on HD!) are a major problem for PWH on INSTIs (most!). But it is NOT discussed often enough. In my experience it has been very hit or miss whether it impacts the VL. I welcome thoughts from my #IDbluesky PharmDs and HIV MDs.
Phosphate binders (dosed TID in patients on HD!) are a major problem for PWH on INSTIs (most!). But it is NOT discussed often enough. In my experience it has been very hit or miss whether it impacts the VL. I welcome thoughts from my #IDbluesky PharmDs and HIV MDs.
May 30, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Because I am on Bluesky today:
Phosphate binders (dosed TID in patients on HD!) are a major problem for PWH on INSTIs (most!). But it is NOT discussed often enough. In my experience it has been very hit or miss whether it impacts the VL. I welcome thoughts from my #IDbluesky PharmDs and HIV MDs.
Phosphate binders (dosed TID in patients on HD!) are a major problem for PWH on INSTIs (most!). But it is NOT discussed often enough. In my experience it has been very hit or miss whether it impacts the VL. I welcome thoughts from my #IDbluesky PharmDs and HIV MDs.
87% of NBA basketball players are between 6 feet 3 inches and 7 feet tall. About 14% of males in the United States are over 6 feet tall.
0.002% of all US college athletes are transgender.
Maybe we should ban tall people from competitive sports to give the short people a chance.
0.002% of all US college athletes are transgender.
Maybe we should ban tall people from competitive sports to give the short people a chance.
May 30, 2025 at 5:15 PM
87% of NBA basketball players are between 6 feet 3 inches and 7 feet tall. About 14% of males in the United States are over 6 feet tall.
0.002% of all US college athletes are transgender.
Maybe we should ban tall people from competitive sports to give the short people a chance.
0.002% of all US college athletes are transgender.
Maybe we should ban tall people from competitive sports to give the short people a chance.
So much to say here. The FFS/RVU with benchmarking also merits quantity over quality. I love all my ID colleagues. They definitely care. But I worry that some may succumb to the plug and chug, copy forward approach. Many notes have become unreadable these days. (It is not just us.)
We love what we do. But yes, we’d also like to get paid. ID is a cognitive, consult-heavy specialty -- and often a “loss leader” in a fee-for-service world.
A look at how the money actually flows (or doesn’t), Part 1. #IDSky blogs.jwatch.org/hiv-id-obser...
A look at how the money actually flows (or doesn’t), Part 1. #IDSky blogs.jwatch.org/hiv-id-obser...
How ID Doctors Get Paid -- The Bread, Butter, and Budget Deficits of Infectious Diseases
Two decades ago, Dr. Atul Gawande wrote a memorable piece for The New Yorker about how doctors in the United States get paid. Providing a nice mix of self-reflection about his own experience and some ...
blogs.jwatch.org
May 22, 2025 at 4:20 AM
So much to say here. The FFS/RVU with benchmarking also merits quantity over quality. I love all my ID colleagues. They definitely care. But I worry that some may succumb to the plug and chug, copy forward approach. Many notes have become unreadable these days. (It is not just us.)
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
State-of-the-Art Review: Modern Approach to Nocardiosis
⭐The duration of antibiotic treatment is understudied and based on few data ➡️ can be shortened if harms begin to outweigh potential benefits
⭐~5% develop recurrence ➡️ close monitoring needed
doi.org/10.1093/cid/...
#IDSky
⭐The duration of antibiotic treatment is understudied and based on few data ➡️ can be shortened if harms begin to outweigh potential benefits
⭐~5% develop recurrence ➡️ close monitoring needed
doi.org/10.1093/cid/...
#IDSky
May 1, 2025 at 2:24 AM
State-of-the-Art Review: Modern Approach to Nocardiosis
⭐The duration of antibiotic treatment is understudied and based on few data ➡️ can be shortened if harms begin to outweigh potential benefits
⭐~5% develop recurrence ➡️ close monitoring needed
doi.org/10.1093/cid/...
#IDSky
⭐The duration of antibiotic treatment is understudied and based on few data ➡️ can be shortened if harms begin to outweigh potential benefits
⭐~5% develop recurrence ➡️ close monitoring needed
doi.org/10.1093/cid/...
#IDSky
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
Breaking News: A federal prosecutor interrogated the The New England Journal of Medicine — which is considered the world’s most prestigious medical journal — in what its editor described as a “vaguely threatening” letter.
‘Vaguely Threatening’: Federal Prosecutor Queries Leading Medical Journal
The New England Journal of Medicine received a letter suggesting that it was biased and compromised by external pressure. Other journals have also received the letter.
www.nytimes.com
April 25, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Breaking News: A federal prosecutor interrogated the The New England Journal of Medicine — which is considered the world’s most prestigious medical journal — in what its editor described as a “vaguely threatening” letter.
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
“Such anti-LGBTQ legislation, including the censorship of accepted medical terminology, can have several downstream effects on patients, including dissuading patients from seeking care, resulting in higher rates of sexually transmitted infections and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition.”
Reposting this State-of-the-Art review, and adding an accompanying editorial I wrote to honor and celebrate those who persist and to show compassion for those who remain silenced. academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...
April 16, 2025 at 5:08 PM
“Such anti-LGBTQ legislation, including the censorship of accepted medical terminology, can have several downstream effects on patients, including dissuading patients from seeking care, resulting in higher rates of sexually transmitted infections and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition.”
Reposting this State-of-the-Art review, and adding an accompanying editorial I wrote to honor and celebrate those who persist and to show compassion for those who remain silenced. academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...
April 16, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposting this State-of-the-Art review, and adding an accompanying editorial I wrote to honor and celebrate those who persist and to show compassion for those who remain silenced. academic.oup.com/cid/advance-...
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
🚫Inhaled corticosteroids treat or cure measles.
🚫Clarithromycin (an antibiotic) can treat measles.
With so much information out there, it can be hard to know what’s true. Learn the facts: www.idsociety.org/public-healt...
🚫Clarithromycin (an antibiotic) can treat measles.
With so much information out there, it can be hard to know what’s true. Learn the facts: www.idsociety.org/public-healt...
April 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
🚫Inhaled corticosteroids treat or cure measles.
🚫Clarithromycin (an antibiotic) can treat measles.
With so much information out there, it can be hard to know what’s true. Learn the facts: www.idsociety.org/public-healt...
🚫Clarithromycin (an antibiotic) can treat measles.
With so much information out there, it can be hard to know what’s true. Learn the facts: www.idsociety.org/public-healt...
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
We are hiring #TxID #TxIDSky faculty at @ucla-id-fellowship.bsky.social @domucla.bsky.social - come join our dynamic and collaborative group to battle infection in sunny Los Angeles! @ast-idcop.bsky.social See link for description and please reach out with questions! recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF09517
Clinical Positions in Transplant Infectious Diseases 2024-2025
University of California, Los Angeles is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.apo.ucla.edu
March 23, 2025 at 2:51 PM
We are hiring #TxID #TxIDSky faculty at @ucla-id-fellowship.bsky.social @domucla.bsky.social - come join our dynamic and collaborative group to battle infection in sunny Los Angeles! @ast-idcop.bsky.social See link for description and please reach out with questions! recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF09517
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
Drug-resistant #gonorrhea is an urgent issue, threatening our empiric treatment options. Resistance to ceftriaxone is rapidly increasing in the Asia-Pacific region.
Happy to share our study from Vietnam, now out in @jidjournal.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/jid/article/...
#IDsky #STIsky #AMR
Happy to share our study from Vietnam, now out in @jidjournal.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/jid/article/...
#IDsky #STIsky #AMR
February 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Drug-resistant #gonorrhea is an urgent issue, threatening our empiric treatment options. Resistance to ceftriaxone is rapidly increasing in the Asia-Pacific region.
Happy to share our study from Vietnam, now out in @jidjournal.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/jid/article/...
#IDsky #STIsky #AMR
Happy to share our study from Vietnam, now out in @jidjournal.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/jid/article/...
#IDsky #STIsky #AMR
Reposted by Tara Vijayan
My friend's @nottheogdrv.bsky.social fb post was heartbreaking. She went to an international #HIV conference, where #NIH & #CDC collaborators were notably absent. #HIV disproportionately affects vulnerable populations--and the word "vulnerable" has been targeted. This is so shameful. #medsky
March 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
"Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons." Secretary Kennedy correctly emphasizes this in his HHS statement. www.hhs.gov/about/news/2...
www.hhs.gov
March 8, 2025 at 6:02 PM
"Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons." Secretary Kennedy correctly emphasizes this in his HHS statement. www.hhs.gov/about/news/2...