Alumni Voices in the Pandemic

"I organize a team of nurses and support staff to assure proper execution of nasopharyngeal swab collection for people who want to be tested for COVID-19. I also do some tracking, notification and enforcement activities. I am not going to lie—staying positive is very difficult. Falling back on your knowledge and training is important. Also admitting that we are all very stressed, and taking a day off when you need it or speaking to a mental health counselor. We are living through a pandemic; when we come out the other side we will be stronger."

"I am assisting in the Staff Screening Support Centre to process referrals to have our staff swabbed for the virus at Niagara Health (hospital system for Niagara area, Ontario, Canada). We have staff complete an online form every day before their shift to assess their risk factors and how they're feeling. The most meaningful part of my work during the pandemic is helping to take care of our staff so they can take care of our patients!"

"I have always remembered one of our professors, Dr. Diane Debacy, telling us that ‘failing to plan, is planning to fail.’ It is especially fitting to the current situation. Preparing for an emergency can be challenging to prioritize when there isn’t a real emergency to respond to and there are so many day-to-day competing priorities. Thankfully, Buffalo State College recognized how important it is to prepare, and we have a very knowledgeable and talented Emergency Response Planning group in place. For this reason, we were able to quickly assemble our Incident Management Team in late February to respond to the situation as it has evolved and continues to do so."

"As an essential business I have found it rewarding during these difficult times to not only apply my knowledge towards helping develop a safety and health plan for our employees, but then also be able transfer this knowledge to a couple local organizations, helping them to prepare their own safety plans for re-opening."

"[O]ur caseloads dwindled, but all along we had our complex therapy patients.  These patients had multiple health issues, and many of them are higher risk for negative consequences from the virus.  Home care really had an essential role in the system. We worked to keep patients out of the hospitals so the hospitals could focus on those that were critically ill with the virus."

"I have been working with data on patients who have unfortunately passed to learn more about where those patients lived and what comorbid conditions they had, and with antibody testing data to see what areas within the county (usually by zip code) are having the highest rates of people testing positive for antibodies to COVID-19. It has been an extremely valuable learning experience as a recently graduated MPH student!"

"We are making sure that long-term care residents are meeting nutrition needs and maintaining weight while being in lock-down, and many of us are also available to provide the increased one-on-one care that many of our residents need during this time away from their families and loved ones. Overall, helping everyone get through this and being there for everyone has proven to be pretty impactful during this time."

Recently named “member of the month” by The Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science, Christina Crabtree-Ide's work understanding the social and contextual factors that impact health and healthcare access, particularly in medically underserved areas, is even more relevant during the era of COVID-19. Crabtree-Ide suggests that the pandemic “has put enormous pressure on rural regions of the U.S., where population susceptibility factors are different, and community attributes and county-level infrastructure and capacity vary widely. The impact of COVID-19 has highlighted the regional variation in healthcare systems and population needs and characteristics across the U.S.” Read the full interview on the iaphs.org website.

"I've been volunteering since the beginning of the pandemic, and I see the need for food on the front line. I make homebound calls for the Meals on Wheels program, and it is beautiful to hear how people appreciate the nutritious meals, or the way the volunteers check on them and just the assurance of a delivered meal. Having a background in public health and nutrition, I was able to better recognize signs of food insecurity and provide helpful and friendly direction to community food sources (such as Meals on Wheels and food pantries)."

"My most meaningful work has been serving the doctors, nurses, and essential workers on the true front lines of this pandemic who injured themselves while on the job or at home and need chiropractic care to continue working. An 'essential worker' designation does not shield them from injury, and my services being deemed essential has allowed me to keep dozens of these men and women on their feet, helping those who need it most during this time."

"We had to get comfortable with the uncomfortable and find a way to thrive in chaos. We had to find ways to reassure our patients and each other while also maintaining a realistic mindset that little was known about COVID-19. It seemed that everyone 'took their hat off,' informally dropped their clinical title, set aside their personal missions, and became part of a unified front to fight our way through the pandemic."

"I believe that the most meaningful part of this work is reassuring people that there are resources available to help them stay safe and healthy, that they don't have to have to go through this alone."

"I am constantly gathering information from reputable sources (global news, my colleagues, the data that Erie County is generating and working with), digesting it, and using that knowledge to assist callers. Whether they are contacting us to schedule COVID-19 testing, requesting guidance for specific situations or just asking general questions, I am glad to be serving the Western New York community in these ever-changing times."

"What I find most meaningful in my work during the pandemic is the ability of different organizations to come together as one for the community. Different work, different backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses--it does not matter. Everyone has made it their goal to help no matter if it is your day-to-day job or something completely different. Even our volunteers have come in asking 'whatever is needed of me--I will do it to the best of my ability.' It truly makes me wake up and go to work every morning with a smile on my face."

"The most meaningful part of my work during the pandemic was being a personal advocate and support to my patients who were going through a very difficult illness while being isolated from family and support persons. As a therapist during the pandemic, I worked in our ICU with multiple patients who were on ventilators and intubated for long periods of time. I facilitated their progression of care in terms of strengthening, endurance, ADLS and IADLS. I also helped to support patients' mental health in finding meaningful activities to participate in as well as assisting in contacting family members via iPads provided to patients to communicate with loved ones. Many rehabs in our area during the start of the pandemic were not accepting patients while they were still testing positive for Covid-19 , therefore as acute care therapists, we were responsible for rehabbing these patients during their prolonged hospital stays."

"Working to help our customers provide diagnostic procedures to those who need it is the most meaningful part of my work during the pandemic. I apply my physiological background every day. Being on the forefront is so important and valuable."

"Working to help our customers provide diagnostic procedures to those who need it is the most meaningful part of my work during the pandemic. I apply my physiological background every day. Being on the forefront is so important and valuable."

"When all of this COVID-19 era is over, what I will remember most is the challenges and triumphs of MY HEROES….my patients. After stabilizing in an acute setting, our patients face weeks and even months of grueling inpatient rehabilitation. To face this alone without daily support from their families and significant others is inconceivable. They do not get to share the joys of 'firsts': standing, walking, even sitting up. They miss the hugs of encouragement for each achievement and the consolations for their disappointments. Still, these individuals strive and overcome these challenges; and their discharge days are huge celebrations for them, their families and our staff! My admiration goes out to each and every one of them! "

"Before COVID-19, I was running between the acute hospital setting to help the patients smoothly transfer to next level and the outpatient hand clinic to treat various hand disease. During the peak of the pandemic, I am working closely with a physical therapist to prone patients who are intubated and have loss of consciousness, and guide the high-level COVID-19 patients to perform simple therapeutic exercises to increase the oxygen intake. The most meaningful thing is saving a life and showing our support, especially when I see the patients discharged from the hospital."

"Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are experiencing a COVID-19 infodemic of misinformation, disinformation, nonsensical conspiracies, schemes, scams, frauds, and quackery. My writings are intended to help people to avoid being misled to waste their time and money, especially on bogus COVID-19 treatment and prevention products and services that can, in some cases, pose significant health hazards."

"Challenging and overcoming the paradigm that “face-to-face interaction” is essential is what I will remember most from the COVID-19 era. We (health professionals, allied health professionals and industry partners) have had to reinvent what our working normal is…leaning into technology has ensured I can continue optimizing pharmaceutical clinical operations and minimizing disruptions. Looking ahead, the future is bright as we can empower more patients through telemedicine, telehealth and other emerging technologies."

"My work is focusing on access and equity in providing testing for communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Whether you're on the front lines or not, you can contribute. I think a valuable lesson learned is to give yourself and others grace. This is the time to be courteous and extend kindness to one another while grappling with a fast-changing environment. We could all use some grace and patience with ourselves and others."

"I'm helping business owners design their strategies to get back to work and be profitable in spite of the COVID-19 economic climate: restructuring their revenue forecasts and budgets for the remainder of the year in response to the COVID-19 economic climate; positioning themselves to thrive in the post pandemic economy by strategically planning their resource allocation, operations, staffing levels and marketing messages, and proactively addressing the emotions and moods of employees and consumers as we prepare to 'engage' each other again."

"I have helped the surgical services in creating pandemic-specific surgery policies by providing information on COVID and surgery based on the initially available literature and guidelines. Providing the background and setting the direction for surgical policy was an incredible opportunity to contribute greatly to our local health system. The data-gathering and critical evaluation of literature were skills that I've learned when I was pursuing my MPH at UB."

"I work closely with cancer patients who, because of their diagnoses, are a vulnerable population that can be seriously impacted by COVID if they were to be infected. They have patience, understanding and appreciation for every healthcare worker that has any part in their wellbeing and care. With COVID things change on a daily basis, and I feel like my educational training at UB really helped me easily adapt in changing the platform from in-person clinical setting to an almost entirely telehealth world. The skills and knowledge I acquired from UB gave me an insight on how things rapidly change in the world of healthcare and to always be on my toes."

"What has been meaningful to me is, really, just all of us on the front lines getting our stories out so the rest of country and that the world sees what we go through every day. (Yes, of course, the dedicated doctors, nurses and first responders, but also the ones that don’t always get included such as grocery workers, restaurant staff, sanitation workers, postal workers and other lower-level medical staff such as myself). We all go to work every day, we put on our masks, gloves and any other PPE we are fortunate to have, and we work with the public all day and night, knowing we could very possibly get infected with COVID-19 ourselves or bring it home to our families and children."

"I work in a skilled nursing facility trying to get my short-term rehab patients stronger and home as soon as safely possible and keep my long-term care residents healthy while empowering them to participate in their functional mobility. In a time where residents aren't able to have visits from their family or friends, we're trying to make therapy their social outlet as well and use it to keep spirits high."

"I believe the work we are doing at CDC and specifically in the EPI Task Force is having a positive impact in so many ways. We are conducting multiple studies across the United States that will lead to improved understanding of the epidemiology of COVID-19. We collect and analyze data to assess aspects of the virus and how it is affecting people in different parts of the country and in specific settings and among certain populations. These studies are furthering CDC’s ability to create guidance and recommend control measures to help reduce infections and prevent outbreaks."

"I am distributing breakfast and lunch to the students in our district on the meal plan. All students under the age of 19 are eligible whether they were on the meal plan before COVID or not. What has been most meaningful is the gratitude and appreciation we have received from those in need of these meals. We hear from people daily on how thankful they are that we are doing this for them. It warms the heart!"

"I use my educational background on a daily basis as I help medical-device innovators develop and commercialize their product ideas like wearables, digital therapeutics and technology to facilitate remote patient monitoring/ telehealth. The developments in these fields are happening unbelievably quickly because of the COVID19 repercussions. The courses that I took at UB as a part of the Rehabilitation Science PhD program gave me a solid foundation in public health and epidemiology, health economics and research fundamentals, which allows me to contextualize and absorb the changing landscape in order to provide strategic guidance to innovators."