Nice interview. Another area that requires improvement is the teaching of public health to future physicians in medical schools. Knowledgeable practicing physicians can impart the importance of public health initiatives to the public and less informed physicians may unintentionally add to confusion and harmful effects.
Yes, I wish an MPH year during med school would be seen as "as prestigious" for residency matching as some "research years" during which very little gets achieved.
Good point "lot of times it's just because there's a paucity of trusted information."
Because my friends and family know that I have expertise in Virology (I helped put five antiviral drugs on the market), I get LOTS of private messages asking about stuff their friends and relatives post. To which I give science-based answers.
What do people who don't happen to know somebody with relevant expertise do?
Hi Dr. Faust, Thank you for this interview. Dr. Ranney’s comments are always insightful. I am wondering: have you had the interview with Dr. Jha yet? I haven’t seen an inside medicine e-mail about it and I want to be sure not to miss it. Thank you for your good work.
Hi Nancy...You're always supportive and helpful. Please understand that I spend a majority of my professional life working on Covid (and Megan spends a ton of time on this too). If anyone knows Covid is not over, it's me and Megan. I think what we mean when we say that phrase (which I agree, is clunky and unfortunate) is usually two things.
1. Post-Covid meaning since the beginning of Covid (i.e. post 2020). So when I say "things are different Post-Covid," I often mean that we now think of things differently as opposed to how we did pre-Covid.
2. (And this is what you're calling out): Post-Covid meaning most people acting like there's not a major problem anymore. Whether we like it or not, most people are living in what *looks like a post-Covid world. My wife and I went out to dinner last night. We remain on the cautious side, especially when visiting older relatives (which we are now). We bundled up to eat outdoors (we are on the west coast this week) but we walked through the indoor part of the restaurant (with our masks on) and what you see is a hundred people kids, adults, seniors, eating merrily like nothing is going on.
Now, the people I'm referring to just there are not necessarily 100% "right" or "wrong" in their personal risk assessments (some might be right and some actually might be wrong, sad to say). But mostly, they're not in danger the way they were before. So, I don't begrudge them, as long as they are protecting any at-risk close contacts.
Now this is not to say that the immunocompromised should not be thought of, and as you know, I think we can and should center a lot of our policies around protecting the immunocompromised. (In fact, I have family members with profound immunocompromised states, so trust me, I am keenly aware of the implications and think about this often).
In terms of your self-isolation, obviously I do not know your medical situation. That is a long slog, and I don't know how you have managed! I assume you have spoken to your doctors about all of this and hope you can find a way to see people (outside is very safe). I can't give medical advice here, but I will say that even most of the highly immunocompromised population can still safely gather in some manner...and I hope you will be able to do so soon. But again, I no nothing of your situation and I can't be presumptuous as to that.
Nice interview. Another area that requires improvement is the teaching of public health to future physicians in medical schools. Knowledgeable practicing physicians can impart the importance of public health initiatives to the public and less informed physicians may unintentionally add to confusion and harmful effects.
Yes, I wish an MPH year during med school would be seen as "as prestigious" for residency matching as some "research years" during which very little gets achieved.
Good point "lot of times it's just because there's a paucity of trusted information."
Because my friends and family know that I have expertise in Virology (I helped put five antiviral drugs on the market), I get LOTS of private messages asking about stuff their friends and relatives post. To which I give science-based answers.
What do people who don't happen to know somebody with relevant expertise do?
Hi Dr. Faust, Thank you for this interview. Dr. Ranney’s comments are always insightful. I am wondering: have you had the interview with Dr. Jha yet? I haven’t seen an inside medicine e-mail about it and I want to be sure not to miss it. Thank you for your good work.
I have followed both of you for the past 3 years and have great respect for both of you and your work.
I was looking forward to reading this interview, but was immediately dismayed and disappointed when you said “post Covid” 😥
People are still being infected with Covid every day
Some are dying every day
And long Covid continues to wreak havoc in the lives of many with still no treatments available
I’m immuocompromised
I’m on Day 1081 of self isolation, going out only to get vaccinated and a few urgent dental appointments
I haven’t seen my adult kids or only grandchild since January 2020
Hi Nancy...You're always supportive and helpful. Please understand that I spend a majority of my professional life working on Covid (and Megan spends a ton of time on this too). If anyone knows Covid is not over, it's me and Megan. I think what we mean when we say that phrase (which I agree, is clunky and unfortunate) is usually two things.
1. Post-Covid meaning since the beginning of Covid (i.e. post 2020). So when I say "things are different Post-Covid," I often mean that we now think of things differently as opposed to how we did pre-Covid.
2. (And this is what you're calling out): Post-Covid meaning most people acting like there's not a major problem anymore. Whether we like it or not, most people are living in what *looks like a post-Covid world. My wife and I went out to dinner last night. We remain on the cautious side, especially when visiting older relatives (which we are now). We bundled up to eat outdoors (we are on the west coast this week) but we walked through the indoor part of the restaurant (with our masks on) and what you see is a hundred people kids, adults, seniors, eating merrily like nothing is going on.
Now, the people I'm referring to just there are not necessarily 100% "right" or "wrong" in their personal risk assessments (some might be right and some actually might be wrong, sad to say). But mostly, they're not in danger the way they were before. So, I don't begrudge them, as long as they are protecting any at-risk close contacts.
Now this is not to say that the immunocompromised should not be thought of, and as you know, I think we can and should center a lot of our policies around protecting the immunocompromised. (In fact, I have family members with profound immunocompromised states, so trust me, I am keenly aware of the implications and think about this often).
In terms of your self-isolation, obviously I do not know your medical situation. That is a long slog, and I don't know how you have managed! I assume you have spoken to your doctors about all of this and hope you can find a way to see people (outside is very safe). I can't give medical advice here, but I will say that even most of the highly immunocompromised population can still safely gather in some manner...and I hope you will be able to do so soon. But again, I no nothing of your situation and I can't be presumptuous as to that.
Thank you for being here, as always.