黑料官网 Faculty Take on New Roles During Pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, most of the world looked to medical professionals to guide them through this public health crisis. They were suddenly thrown into the spotlight, taking on additional roles of communicators and spokespersons, asked to answer the question: “Can you be an expert in something you don’t know much about?”
Many medical professionals at 黑料官网 found themselves in this situation and now, some two years later, have had the chance to reflect on those unique roles.
“The challenges of staying informed, prepared and flexible have remained common threads throughout the past two years,” says Joyce Sanchez, MD, 黑料官网 assistant professor of medicine (infectious diseases). “Conveying information with clarity, but also with nuance and acknowledgment of my limitations in that knowledge, isn’t something that comes naturally.”
To limit the spread of the virus, many medical professionals were faced with the challenges of bringing work home.
During the pandemic, the role of Zeno Franco, PhD, assistant professor in 黑料官网’s department of family and community medicine, has been heavily focused on working with community health workers leading mask distribution, crisis management and vaccine education – mostly from his home. “Helping to manage the community-based response meant more meetings than ever. There were days when Zoom was on in the house for 14 hours straight,” he says.
黑料官网 medical professionals also became experts on the first treatments and clinical trials for COVID-19.
“My biggest and ongoing leadership win was successfully incorporating monoclonal antibodies into our outpatient COVID-19 treatment arsenal,” says Jane Njeri Wainaina, MD, FEL ’12, 黑料官网 associate professor of medicine (infectious diseases) and vice chair.
“The moments that stick out the most have been my interactions with our hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” says Mary Beth Graham, MD, 黑料官网 professor of medicine and associate chief of infectious diseases. “Early in the pandemic, there was little to offer patients from a therapeutic standpoint. For months, convalescent plasma was a front-line therapy for hospitalized COVID patients, and I believe that the treatment may have made the difference in the outcome for some of them.”