Public Health On Call

Latest Episodes:

442 - "No Temporary Scaffolding" in Chicago's COVID-19 Response Mar 14, 2022

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Chicago's public health response to the pandemic has been focused on racial equity from the beginning—and the approach is paying dividends. Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago's health commissioner, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the city's innovative efforts, why they chose to invest in building a public health workforce over bringing in outsourced solutions, and how she and her team have kept up the momentum over two long years.

441 - Navigating "The Great Unmasking" With Keri Althoff and Elizabeth Stuart Mar 11, 2022

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Epidemiologist Keri Althoff and mental health expert Elizabeth Stuart return to the podcast to talk us through yet another phase of the pandemic. They speak with Stephanie Desmon about where we are now and why there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic, how families can navigate mask-wearing, the CDC's new approach to monitoring risks, and why the COVID response is a dial, not an "on/off switch."

Bonus - War Crimes and Russia's Bombing of Mariupol Maternity Hospital in Ukraine Mar 10, 2022

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Does Russia's bombing of the Mariupol Maternity Hospital constitute a war crime? Johns Hopkins faculty member and author Len Rubenstein returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the recent attack, Russia's history of destroying hospitals, and the importance of accountability to stop such attacks in the future.

BONUS - Ukraine's Humanitarian Crisis Mar 10, 2022

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine is displacing millions of people across Europe. Humanitarian expert Paul Spiegel returns to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about the crisis and its tremendous geopolitical significance, major public health concerns at play including mental health trauma, health care for refugees, and the added complication of COVID-19. They also talk about why this refugee crisis is different than others and how discrimination plays a key role in deciding who has access to humanitarian resources.

440 - "It Really Spared No One"—Covid-19's Long-term Heart Problems Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

Two years into the pandemic, we now have more data about how COVID affects people in the long term. Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, Chief of Research and Education Service at Veterans Affairs in the St. Louis Health Care System talks with Stephanie Desmon about an expansive new study of 11 million people who had COVID-19. The study found that people with COVID are at higher risk for all kinds of heart issues including clots, inflammation, and arrhythmias even a year after having mild or asymptomatic COVID—risks that persisted even in relatively healthy people.

439 - The Nursing Crisis With Nurse Alice Mar 07, 2022

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Even before COVID-19, the US was facing a shortage of nurses which has now become a full blown crisis. Nurse Alice, Chief Nursing Officer at nurse.org and host of the Ask Nurse Alice podcast talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the many factors behind the crisis, how the pandemic exacerbated an already untenable situation, and what needs to be done now to address it. Nurse Alice also shares her advice for those aspiring to be nurses or who might be considering leaving the profession.

438 - A Look Back At March 2020 With Dr. Josh Sharfstein Mar 04, 2022

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In the very early days of the pandemic in the US, there was so much we didn't know about COVID and a lot of concern among experts about how the country could weather the health crisis. In this special episode, Lindsay Smith Rogers pulls quotes from "the file," a previously unaired podcast interview recorded with Dr. Josh Sharfstein in early March 2020, about his predictions and concerns. They discuss what he predicted correctly, for better or worse, what he got wrong, and what we still don't really know even two years later.

437 - COVID-19 in Columbus, Ohio Mar 02, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Mysheika Roberts has been the health commissioner of Columbus, Ohio since 2017. In March 2020, however, the trajectory of her career changed. Dr. Roberts talks to Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the first moment when she realized what it meant to lead in a crisis. They talk about efforts in Columbus to expand testing, roll out a creative vaccine strategy, and bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to address COVID collectively, honoring "the Columbus Way."

436 - The Primary Care of COVID-19 Feb 28, 2022

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At the beginning of the pandemic, primary care clinicians had few treatments to offer patients who had COVID-19 but were not sick enough to be hospitalized. But they could provide emotional support and steer patients away from harmful treatments. Dr. Pieter Cohen, a primary care doctor at the Cambridge Health Alliance, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about all that primary care clinicians can do for COVID-19 patients today.

435 - Research Update: Sex and Gender Differences and COVID-19 Feb 25, 2022

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Virologist Dr. Sabra Klein returns to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about what research has seen regarding COVID-19 outcomes for men and women. They discuss what's known now about sex (biological) and gender (social and contextual) differences in COVID-19 infection and vaccination, and why these variables are so important to consider in research and policy.

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