Jennifer Hamilton, MD PhD

I don't wear a mask at home or when I'm outdoors, but I do mask up at work. Yesterday a patient I hadn't seen in years sighed "Covid, AGAIN?" I answered that I never stopped masking.

Now that we know how much masks (esp KN94/N95) reduce respiratory illness, why wouldn't you want your doc to wear a mask to see you? Odds are, I saw someone with a sore throat sometime in the last day or two. I don't want covid, or the flu, or a cold -- and I don't want to give any of those illnesses to you.

Jul 24, 2025 at 11:03amWeb
Show threadFrom Robin with LoveJul 24, 2025
@jeneralist I am so grateful for doctors like you.
Show threadWearyBonnieNov 2
@jeneralist
We desperately need more doctors with your good sense and compassion 💚
Show threadtallshipNov 2

@jeneralist

Thank you Doctor, it is appreciated, and the reason I suffered through the illness for two months in 2020, before any shots were even an option - is because I'd rather die in my own bed than catch something even worse at the hospital where they were just plugging people in when they could find available ventilators, and... cringe.

That's the past. This is now, when the staff in my doctor's office masks up they're protecting me from someone with an aerosolized pathogen...

But when someone at the grocery store is masked up I go the other way because I think they've got tuberculosis. 💀

About 40k people die each year from influenza, give or take. I got my flu and pneumonia shots but will likely never take another Wuhan shot - it may have led to my congestive heart failure, and I've always been prone to prolonged respiratory issues following any flu that seem to come on about a week or two after I get over the illness and last another month. So it's not like I'm not wary.

Show threadJennyNov 2
@jeneralist thank you for masking. I wish my doc would do this…
Show thread@[email protected] has moved.Nov 2
@jeneralist 🙏
Show threadBill HookerNov 2
@jeneralist My PCP puts on a mask when she sees me wearing one, but it's one of those blue surgical ones, so not really much use. I appreciate the gesture, I guess, and it's better than nothing -- but I'd rather my doctor understood viral epidemiology a bit better.
Show threadJennifer Hamilton, MD PhDNov 2
@sennoma I really should update my profile pic, which dates back to when I was using the blue surgical masks in the office because we were saving all the N95s for the hospital team.
Show threadsauc3Nov 2

@jeneralist

When I went in to have a procedure on Friday, I had to request the team wear masks, since I was going to have to take mine down for oxygen. It made me sad the request even needed to be made, because for my last procedure, my doctor didn't wear one.

As a patient, I can tell you that it doesn't feel good to have to be the one to make the request. I wish the medical professional would just always wear one, since they are around sick people most of their day. It seems to me if I knew I was going to be around people who are unwell for the vast majority of my working day, wearing a mask would be the default. It makes it hard to trust the judgement of someone who doesn't feel that way, to be frank.

Anyway, thank you for masking! I am sure for some of your patients it means more than you could ever know. There might be people who keep seeing you explicitly because you make that choice. I know I would!

Show threadEniko FoxNov 2
@jeneralist i wish more doctors were like you
Show threadCrystaleNov 2
@jeneralist thank you
Show threadI AM BANKSY ☕ / 🗑‍🔥Nov 2
@jeneralist
Even before Covid, I didn't understand how doctors and nurses wouldn't wear a mask when seeing potentially contagious patients. Pretty cavalier.
Show threadrefraction Nov 2
@jeneralist little note: it's KN95. also KF94 and FFP2 are basically equivalent standards (N95 requires head straps rather than the not common ear loops). also KN95 is self-certified, there's no government body enforcing compliance, so you better trust the company making it. but I guess in 2025 US there's no longer a body certifying and enforcing compliance on N95s either cause the Trump admin thought workplace protections are unnecessary.
Show threadDr Andrew A. Adams #FBPE 🔶Nov 2
@jeneralist @KimSJ
👍💪
Show threadsiderealNov 2
@jeneralist I’ve definitely stopped taking doctors/their medical advice seriously if they don’t mask, and I will tell them this also.
Show threadVictoria🏳️‍⚧️Nov 2
@jeneralist nice to see people like this :)
Show threadKarin BorgersonNov 2
@jeneralist Thank you! May your actions be a model for health care providers everywhere!
Show threadDan Neuman 🇨🇦Nov 2

@jeneralist I go to a teaching clinic (as a patient), and my new resident asked me why I was wearing a mask. I replied that a clinic is the easiest place to get infected. But I haven't seen him mask up, yet. There is talk that new Canadian safety standards may strongly recommend them for staff in clinical settings in the coming year.

Edit: I believe the standards change has workplace insurance implications.

Show threadRobynNov 2
@dan613
Fairly sure the majority of the medicos I see are ascribing my mask wearing to anxiety plus maybe an overinflated self assessment of my ability to assess medical information, and politely don't tell me so. I also suspect it colours their medical treatment of me.
But then it's sometimes hard to tease out that from the "seeking medical care while female" effect
@jeneralist
Show threadDan Neuman 🇨🇦Nov 2
@RedRobyn @jeneralist Yes, I do get the sense of "oh, hypochondriac" response from medical professionals.
Show threadRobynNov 2
@dan613
My GP (who does not wear a mask, being resigned to the certainty her kids will bring everything home from school anyway, but has got a hepa filter for her room) has shared a specialists letter with me. It uses words like "nervous" when I thought I was expressing concern or at most apprehension, and "found the procedure distressing" when I said something like "yes it was painful but manageable, and I appreciate that you can offer better pain management during, but my reluctance is mainly about the months long recovery which I don't want to go through again"
@jeneralist
Show threadDan Neuman 🇨🇦Nov 2
@RedRobyn @jeneralist I got my medical records when I retired from the military. It was eye-opening the misconceptions providers had. Oh well. I am the world's foremost expert on myself. Others struggle to understand me using just bits of information, so I must forgive them their mistakes.
Show threadJulia ClementNov 3
@jeneralist Well done. Thank you.
Can you have a word with my dental hygienist please? The hypocrite keeps his mask on but insists I remove mine!
Show threadSilk_Flame (she/her) 😷Nov 4
@jeneralist One of my vets at least asks when she sees me if I want her to mask, but she's the only one. I've given up on most people and will continue to mask forever for the same reasons you do (minus working in a medical field).