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The world needs more infectious disease doctors #MedTwitter #IDTwitter
My new article & thread
1/x:
My face shield whistled with noise as it brushed against my thin yellow gown. Bright monitors surrounded me, chirping like cardinals in the summer... https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/the-world-needs-more-infectious-disease-doctors.html
My new article & thread
1/x:
My face shield whistled with noise as it brushed against my thin yellow gown. Bright monitors surrounded me, chirping like cardinals in the summer... https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/the-world-needs-more-infectious-disease-doctors.html
2/x A slow exhale felt comfortably warm against my N95 mask. Treading down the river of COVID-19 patients as a 2nd year ID fellow, I knew this was exactly where I needed to be.
Even beneath these protective barriers, I could look straight ahead with clear, unobstructed vision.
Even beneath these protective barriers, I could look straight ahead with clear, unobstructed vision.
3/x I previously wrote in 2019 to medical students and residents that one of the reasons to consider ID was because infectious diseases have the possibility of causing a real end of the world scenario... and then #COVID19 happened.
4/x There is a palpable shortage of infectious disease doctors in the US. ~208 million Americans are living in counties hardest hit by COVID-19 with no or very few infectious disease doctors.
The pandemic made the importance of infectious disease crystal clear.
The pandemic made the importance of infectious disease crystal clear.
5/x Infectious disease physicians are leading vaccine development efforts, creating clinical trials of novel treatment regimens, researching policy implementation and advocacy, working on infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship, all while caring for COVID-19 patients.
6/x Leadership in public health is often by ID docs, and their impact extends well beyond the bounds of individual patients for whom they provide care. The world needs truth tellers, it is desperate and hungry for reliable information.
7/x I turn on the news and see ID leaders like @CarlosdelRio7 and @DrTomFrieden providing some of that information. Here’s a link to some of my own faculty in the news: http://www.emorydailypulse.com/2020/02/05/infectious-diseases-faculty-share-expertise-during-coronavirius-outbreak/
8/x After all, ID training provides critical skills that may be necessary to adequately understand pandemics. These skills can benefit health systems in state and local health departments (including national systems like NIH/ CDC)
9/x Within hospitals, ID physicians have tangible benefits—consultation often results in shorter stays, lower costs, and lower mortality
10/x At academic hospitals, ID physicians comprise crucial teaching faculty, leading the next generation of young physicians.
11/x Despite being one of the most frequently consulted services in most hospitals, the number of new infectious diseases physicians is not keeping up with the need.
12/x 21% of fellowship match positions in ID went unfilled last year (compared to 2/1010 of cardiology). To those med students and residents, it’s a buyers market!
13/x There needs to be a focused and systemic attempt to create more ID physicians if we are to protect our health society’s future.
14/x With increasing global travel, antibiotic-resistant organisms, and continued emergence of new and old infectious diseases, the role of infectious disease physicians in society will only increase.
15/x Now more than ever, the world needs infectious disease doctors. When COVID-19 is conquered, a new threat will emerge. Will you step-up and be amongst those ready to fight it?
