September 01, 2023
2 min read
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Healio Interviews
Disclosures:
Bariola, Glatt and Ostrosky report no relevant financial disclosures.
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For the latest story in our “Life during COVID” series, we asked experts to describe the impact the pandemic has had on patient health and the practice of medicine in the United States.
We also wanted to know what the pandemic’s biggest impact has been on the field of infectious diseases, so we asked three ID physicians for their input:
Ryan Bariola, MD, is an infectious diseases physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and clinical associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Aaron E. Glatt, MD, MACP, FIDSA, FSHEA, is chairman of the department of medicine and chief of the division of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, New York, and professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Luis Z. Ostrosky, MD, is chief of infectious diseases and epidemiology at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Health System.
Ryan Bariola
Bariola: It reinforced the importance of trust.
The pandemic reinforced for many in ID the role of trust in the health care system and public health. Assuming good science itself will win out in the end is not enough. Thanks to decades of public funding investment in areas such as vaccine research, developing a safe and highly effective vaccine for a never-before-seen virus in a rapid timeframe should be viewed as a medical miracle, but it isn’t universally seen that way. The time to build that trust in all of health care is now, not during the middle of the next pandemic. In the modern world, building this trust needs to be a permanent and ongoing priority for ID and for everybody in health care.
Ostrosky: It brought attention to the specialty.
COVID-19 was a once-in-a-generation event that really brought attention and focus to the specialty of infectious diseases. Before COVID-19, very few people outside of medicine knew what an infectious diseases specialist does, and COVID-19 brought us to everybody’s living room. There were infectious diseases physicians on the national news, commenting on COVID-19 and giving direction. Infectious diseases physicians advised schools, universities, movie theaters, airlines and cruise lines. If there’s a silver lining, it is that it really brought us front and center as a recognized medical specialty that deserves attention. On the other hand, it’s perhaps the single most important burnout event experience we could have ever imagined.
Aaron E. Glatt
Glatt: It will be harder to attract physicians.
In the first year of the pandemic, I thought it would motivate people to enter infectious diseases. Looking at it now, it has probably made it more difficult because people see how overwhelmed and overworked some ID doctors are. We need to get the word out better that ID is a phenomenal and satisfying field from a professional and personal perspective. At the same time, we need to get across the message that we’re unbelievably important to the health care system and make sure that we’re appropriately reimbursed for the work that we do. I’ve been in this field for almost 40 years, and I love it.
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