CDC Director Discusses COVID-19 Pandemic During Visit to Medical Campus – Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

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Wallensky also spoke with a group of female teachers and trainees.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle P. Wallensky visited the University of Washington School of Medicine on March 2 and 3 to discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Rochelle P. Wallensky, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), visited the University of Washington School of Medicine last week to discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the School of Medicine’s weekly Grand Round series, she was on March 3rd for a conversation focused on her pandemic, William G. Powdery, Ph.D., J.M. I sat with Professor William Campbell of Medicine and Co-Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases. Success stories and challenges. The event was livestreamed to the medical campus community and the general public. A small group of infectious disease doctors, fellows and residents participated directly.

The day before, she also met with female trainees and faculty members from the School of Medicine to discuss mentorship, leadership, and professional development.The discussion was guided by Rakhee K. Bhayani, MDAssociate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Women’s Forum of Medicine, a group that supports the professional development of female trainees in the Faculty of Medicine.

Warensky, a graduate of the University of Washington, was invited to the Medical Campus as a visiting professor at the School of Medicine Gerald Medov. Medov, who died in 2019, was a beloved and compassionate infectious disease doctor and former director. Infectious disease department At the medical school.

As part of a Grand Round conversation with Powderley, Warrensky answered questions about the COVID-19 pandemic. She is an internationally recognized expert on HIV / AIDS, and her experience with early epidemics influenced her thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. She said the AIDS epidemic showed that infectious diseases weighed more heavily on some communities than others, and that this unequal burden was rooted in social inequality.

“We learned a lot from HIV in terms of who receives and has access to care,” Walensky said. “We have long known that infectious diseases go to places of poverty and places with no access to care, not places of wealth. We first brought SARS-CoV-2 to the United States. Those who traveled by plane, those who traveled by cruise ship, those who had the resources to do such things, but then it became a more vulnerable disease. “

Walensky said her HIV / AIDS experience was part of the reason she prioritized addressing health inequalities as a CDC director.

“In April, just a few weeks after coming to the CDC, we are proud that the CDC declared racism a serious public health threat,” Walensky said. “We have spent a lot of time documenting the issue of health inequalities. Maternal mortality, chronic illness, access to care, far away to see if everything is true. You don’t have to look, and I said, “I don’t want to document the problem anymore. I want to implement something that solves the problem.”

Keeping in mind that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in the country’s public health infrastructure that must be addressed, Wallensky last year distributed 550 million COVID-19 vaccines nationwide. He praised public health workers of all levels for his success. She also praised the CDC’s achievements in modernizing data collection and speeding up the process of publishing public health data.

According to Warensky, one of the most difficult parts of managing a pandemic is telling the public how science works and how public health decisions are made.

“I often said,’Science is the foundation of everything we do,'” Warensky said. “That’s completely true. But I think the general public has heard that science is black and white because it is absolutely certain.” We get the answer and then make a decision based on the answer. But the truth is that science is gray. And science is not always immediate. It can take months or years to actually find the answer, and you have to make a decision before you get the answer. At this time, you may be held liable for not making the right decisions. I’m fine with that. But I don’t want to be blamed for not making a decision. Because it is a decision not to make a decision on its own. “

Warrensky and Powderley, Vice Dean of Clinical and Translational Research, Larry J. Shapiro, Director of the Institute for Public Health, and Dr. Victoria Fraser of Adolfuss, Director of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences I joined.Professor Bush and Head School of medicine.. Recording conversations YouTube channel of medical school And that Medical School Grand Round Website..

The day before the discussion with Powderley, Wallensky met with female residents, fellows, and faculty members of the School of Medicine to discuss her personal and professional journey in science and medicine. In an hour-long conversation, Warrensky emphasized the importance of developing a diverse group of mentors who can take strategic risks and provide insights and guidance from different perspectives when opportunities arise. .. Warensky laughed when she was asked what advice she would give to her young self.

“My young self didn’t think I was doing what I’m doing today,” she said. “I tell my young self to enjoy the ride quality. Everyone needs two CVs. One is what you did and the other is what you did. It didn’t work. Because we learn as much from what went wrong. What we do as doctors is such a gift, such a blessing. I still enjoy the ride quality. Recently, the ride quality is a little bumpy. “