Honoring Dr. Stefanie Aronow

Dr. Stefanie Aronow is a Clinical Assistant Professor at The Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University, and a Pediatrician at Waterman Pediatrics in East Providence, RI. Along with seeing patients in the office, Stefanie also sees babies in the newborn nursery at Women and Infants, and she follows her patients at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

At the beginning of the pandemic, last March, coronavirus was an unknown entity and day to day felt like crisis mode. Taking care of her patients and keeping up with the constantly changing information was extremely challenging! As a physician, people look to you for information and guidance, and expect you to know all of the answers. The physicians and scientists were learning and adapting as they went along. She’s learned so much and is amazed and proud of the scientists and medical providers, who’ve been able to understand this novel virus and provide a vaccine in just under a year. As a physician continuing to care for people, Stefanie and her colleagues had to implement safety measures, under the guidance of the Health Department, to protect the patients and staff.

Last spring on top of having to deal with the complexities of Covid-19, Stefanie learned that her dad was terminally ill. She needed to balance the risks of the pandemic with the need to help with his care. He’s still going strong, and she’s grateful that she has been able to help him and her family. Stefanie was fearful that she could infect her dad, her husband and/or their college age children, who had come home to take their classes remotely. It was a very difficult time! It’s been incredibly challenging in all age groups. Families separated, people feeling socially isolated, financial difficulties, changes in work and school, dealing with the illness… everyone has been impacted.  

Both Stefanie and her husband have been vaccinated now. Their children are back at college. Their son had Covid six weeks after moving into the freshman dorms but luckily did well with it and Hannah remains healthy.

To stay balanced Stefanie and her husband have built a gym in their basement. They go for walks with their dog. Stefanie hopes that the vaccine will help to get life back to normal, and help people feel safe again. She hopes for the return of face to face contact with family and friends. She misses the hugs and going out to restaurants! Everyone is tired of this and looking forward to a return to normalcy! 

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