Author's posts
The time for preventive health is now
As a public health physician and epidemiologist, I’ve learned a lot of lessons during this pandemic. But the importance of preventive health was probably the most striking. It became clear relatively early on, that countries with healthier population…
The disparity no one talks about: COVID vaccines and men
As an epidemiologist and former public health official, I’ve noticed a lot of coverage in the news about COVID vaccine hesitancy issues in BIPOC communities, and I, like many other clinicians, am working hard to address those issues. But there is one…
Knowledge is power: Why science and health literacy matters
As a physician epidemiologist and former public health official, I’m constantly struck by the sheer amount of disinformation that spreads related to COVID-19. I’ll routinely encounter myths about how masks actually cause viral spread. Or I’ll be told t…
What this medical epidemiologist learned from prior pandemic vaccination efforts
It was the fall of 2009. I was a medical epidemiologist at the largest local health department in the state of Colorado, in charge of coordinating the area’s H1N1 pandemic vaccination efforts. The CDC was distributing vaccine to state and local healt…
Perceptions of risk and coronavirus: thoughts of an epidemiologist
As a physician epidemiologist and former public health official, I find myself confused by people’s perceptions of risk related to coronavirus, particularly as we struggle to reopen our economy amidst a surge of cases. I’ll meet an older ad…
Physician suicide is an occupational health crisis
I barely remember walking out of the hospital that day. After a nearly 30-hour residency shift, I was in a bit of a daze. I trudged across the main parking lot, staring absently at the coffee-colored snow beneath my boots. I have no memory of reaching …
