Public Health On Call

Latest Episodes:

251 - Dr. José Ramón Fernández-Peña and How the COVID-19 Pandemic is Impacting Pre-Med and Undergraduate Students Feb 10, 2021

Show notes

COVID-19 has increased awareness of public health, health inequities, and shortcomings of the US health system, but it may also negatively impact college students in terms of opportunities for personal and professional growth. Dr. José Ramón Fernández-Peña, APHA President and Northwestern's director of Health Professions Advising, talks with Stephanie Desmon about how the pandemic is affecting undergraduate students, an increasing interest in and appreciation of public health work, and how this "disaster time" may be forcing students to grow up faster while robbing them of vital experiences to develop some skills and pursue professional opportunities.

KEYWORDS: student life; college; health equity

250 - An Update on the Impacts and Opportunities of COVID-19 on Schools Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

Although the CDC has found little evidence of COVID spreading in schools with proper precautions in place, 17% of districts in the US are fully open for in-person learning. Dr. Annette Anderson of the Johns Hopkins School of Education returns to the podcast to give an update about the impacts of the pandemic, academically and socially, on K-12 students. Dr. Anderson also talks with Stephanie Desmon about why schools may not fully reopen until the fall, and the opportunities now for schools to address a longstanding lack of innovation.

KEYWORDS: child health; student life; pandemic response

249 - COVID-19 and Chicago's Public Schools Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Although private schools and daycares have been open across Chicago since June, public schools are only now preparing to reopen for in-person learning. Dr. Ken Fox, chief health officer and "the district's pediatrician", talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about centering the well-being of kids in reopening, what the science says about how to do things as safely as possible, and his hopes for getting caregivers, teachers, and everyone else on board through transparent communication and a dedication to the kids they all serve.

KEYWORDS: child health; student life; pandemic response

248 - Dating in a Pandemic Feb 05, 2021

Show notes

Dating is already so much about trust and safety—COVID-19 adds new complications. Dr. Keri Althoff and Dr. Laura Murray return to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about why human connection is so important, how to navigate difficult conversations, the new ways people are meeting—not just online!—and how COVID-19 may change dating forever, possibly for the best.

KEYWORDS: community mental health; social distancing; young adults

247 - An Update on COVID-19 in Brazil Feb 04, 2021

Show notes

After public health measures helped stem a massive first wave of infections, fatigue set in, and Brazil is now facing the worst moment of the pandemic so far. Dr. Luana Araujo, a public health consultant in Brazil, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about why Brazil is struggling despite a robust universal health care system. She also makes the case for greater inclusion of Brazil in discussions of global health.

KEYWORDS: pandemic response; health communication; vaccine approval

246 - Do Pandemics Really End? What We Know From the 1918 Flu and a Brief History of Vaccine Resistance Feb 03, 2021

Show notes

Even after the 1918 pandemic supposedly "ended" a significant number of people continued to die from "flu-like illnesses" for years. So do pandemics really "end" or do they fade from the public's consciousness? Medical historians Jeremy Greene and Graham Mooney return to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about how we really mark the "end of a pandemic", why today's vaccine hesitancy is strikingly similar to resistance to smallpox inoculations a century ago, and the hope that a focus on health disparities due to structural racism—not individual behaviors or innate characteristics—will endure through whatever the "end" of COVID-19 looks like.

KEYWORDS: health equity; racial disparity; health communication

245 - COVID-19 Research Update: Reinfection in a Health Care Worker, Why Men Might Experience More Serious Disease, and a Look at an Inhaled Antiviral Treatment Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Hopkins researchers who break down three COVID-19 research papers: Dr. Sheree Schwartz talks about a preprint study of a healthcare worker who experienced COVID-19 twice; Dr. Nikolas Wada talks about a study of why some people, especially men, may have more serious disease from COVID-19; and Dr. Ashwin Balagopal talked about a clinical trial for an inhaled Interferon treatment. All three Hopkins faculty are part of the novel coronavirus research consortium, with many summaries of new studies available at http://ncrc.jhsph.edu

KEYWORDS: COVID-19 therapy; immune response

244 - Why a Global Health Organization Let Most of its U.S. Employees Go Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

Until 2020, PIVOT, an NGO in Africa, had an operations model that looked much like many organizations of its type: a 200-person team on the ground in Madagascar and a 10-person administrative team in the US. But early in 2020, the organization decided to let the majority of US employees go and shift operations to Madagascar and the communities that PIVOT serves. Executive director and Hopkins alum Tara Loyd talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about how this transition was managed and what the change means not only for the organization, but for global health care. You can read Loyd's commentary in Stanford Social Innovation Review: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/moving_closer_to_the_problem_and_closer_to_the_solution

KEYWORDS: international health; community health workers

243 - Vaccine Week Finale: Q&A with Dr. Josh Sharfstein Jan 29, 2021

Show notes

How do I find out where to get vaccinated? How much flexibility in timing is there for the second dose? If I've gotten vaccinated, can I be infected by one of the new variants? Should I get the vaccine if I currently have COVID? Can the vaccine alleviate long-hauler symptoms or long-term loss of taste or smell?

Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Stephanie Desmon to answer listener questions about COVID-19 vaccines.

KEYWORDS: long-term symptoms; viral mutation; household transmission

242 - Will COVID-19 Vaccination Be Required for the Workplace? Jan 28, 2021

Show notes

Once vaccines are more widely available, employers may start requiring their workers to be vaccinated. Employment law expert Karla Grossenbacher talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein to break down vaccine mandates, how these work with the Americans With Disabilities Act, Title VII, and other federal laws, and what questions employers are asking before they make a decision to move forward.

KEYWORDS: policy; vaccine hesitancy; vaccine authorization

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