>>> INSTEAD OF HEADING INTO A
SUMMER, LIKE LAST SUMMER, OF
ISOLATION, UNCERTAINTY, AND
LOSS, WERE HEADED INTO A SUMMER
OF JOY, CELEBRATION, AND
INCREASING FREEDOM FROM THE
VIRUS.
>> A SUMMER OF JOY BROUGHT TO
YOU BY LAST YEARS HEROES, THE
DOCTORS, NURSES, AND HOSPITAL
STAFF ON THE FRONT LINES OF
COVID.
A NEW BOOK FOLLOWS SIX OF THOSE,
QUOTE, ORDINARY PEOPLE DOING
EXTRAORDINARY WORK, MEDICAL
STUDENTS WHO GRADUATED EARLY TO HELP IN THE COVID WARS.
HELP IN THE COVID WARS.
WITH ME, THE AUTHOR AND
GABRIELLA YOU LOW
GABRIELLA ULLOA.
YOU FINISHED MEDICAL SCHOOL IN
APRIL 2020, IMMEDIATELY STARTED
TO WORK IN A NEW YORK HOSPITAL.
WHAT WERE THOSE FIRST FEW MONTHS
OF THE PANDEMIC LIKE FOR YOU?
>> YEAH, SO I THINK A LOT OF US
ACTUALLY WHO GRADUATED DURING
THE PANDEMIC, WE CAME IN AT THE
HEIGHT OF AT LEAST NEW YORK
CITYS FIRST WAVE.
AND IT WAS VERY SCARY JUST BEING
AN INTERN ITSELF IS SCARY,
DESPITE NOT EVEN BEING IN A
PANDEMIC.
SO YEAH, IT WAS SCARY, BUT I HAD
A LOT OF SUPPORT STAFF, NURSES,
EVERYTHING TO HELP ME ALONG THE
WAY.
>> EMMA, ONE OF THE REASONS I
FOUND YOUR BOOK SO COMPELLING IS
THAT WE KNOW WHAT WE HAVE LIVED
THROUGH IN THE SHORT TERM, BUT
THERE ARE SO MANY LONG-TERM
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WAY THAT
COVID IS GOING TO CHANGE US AS A
SOCIETY.
WHAT STOOD OUT MOST FOR YOU IN
YOUR CONVERSATIONS WITH THESE
YOUNG DOCTORS?
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING
BOTH OF US ON.
ITS A TREAT TO BE HERE.
I THINK ONE OF THE GREATEST
TAKEAWAYS I HAD FROM MY BOOK IS
THE IDEA THAT COURAGE DOESNT
ALWAYS LOOK LIKE EXACTLY WHAT WE
THINK ITS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
I THINK WHEN I STARTED OUT THE
REPORTING, I ANTICIPATED THAT
THE GREATEST SOURCE OF FEAR FOR
A LOT OF THE DOCTORS I WAS
FOLLOWING WOULD BE THE SENSE
THAT THEY THEMSELVES MIGHT FALL
SICK, AND THAT WAS CERTAINLY A
CONCERN.
BUT I THINK EVEN DEEPER WAS THE
WORRY THAT THEY WOULDNT ALWAYS
BE ABLE TO DO THE LIFE-SAVING
WORK THAT THEY HAD BEEN TRAINED
TO DO.
ONE YOUNG DOCTOR I FOLLOWED WHO
ADMITTED HIS FIRST PATIENT ON
HIS FIRST DAY AND WITHIN HOURS
THAT PATIENT PASSED AWAY.
AND THE FIRST EVER MEDICAL NOTE
HE SIGNED AS A DOCTOR WAS A
CERTIFICATE OF DEATH.
AND THATS NOT SOMETHING THAT
ANY DOCTOR INTENDS TO DO.
THESE WITH PEOPLE LIKE GABRIELLA
WHO WERE TRAINED TO DO
LIFE-SAVING WORK, HEALING WORK,
AND IN SOME CASES, THAT WASNT
POSSIBLE.
AND I THINK FOLLOWING THESE
YOUNG DOCTORS WHO HAD THE
COURAGE TO DO THE WORK EVEN WHEN
THEY WERENT ABLE TO SAVE
PEOPLES LIVES AND EVEN WHEN
THERE WAS SO LITTLE KNOWN ABOUT
THE DISEASE, THAT WAS AN
INCREDIBLY INSPIRING STORY FOR
ME TO FOLLOW AND TO BE ABLE TO
SHARE WITH THE READERS.
>> DO YOU HAVE A SENSE HOW THIS
IS GOING TO CHANGE YOUR APPROACH
TO THE WORK?
>> I THINK IT ALREADY HAS
CHANGED MY APPROACH TO THE WORK.
COMING INTO A PANDEMIC LIKE
THIS, YOU THINK HAVE TO CHANGE
THE WAY THAT YOU CARE FOR
PATIENTS.
IN MEDICAL SCHOOL BEFORE THE
PANDEMIC WE WERE TAUGHT SPEND AS
MUCH TIME WITH FAMILIES AS
POSSIBLE AND MAKE IT REALLY A
PATIENT-CENTERED APPROACH TO
MEDICINE.
IN THIS SORT OF PANDEMIC, IN
THIS ENVIRONMENT, WE REALLY HAD
TO FIGURE OUT WAYS TO STILL DO
THAT, BUT THROUGH VIRTUAL MEANS,
AND ALSO WITHOUT SPENDING SO
MUCH TIME WITH A PATIENT THAT
YOU WOULD PUT YOURSELF AT RISK
FOR GETTING SICK.
SO I THINK ITS ACTUALLY GOING
TO CHANGE A LOT OF THE WORLD OF
MEDICINE, LET ALONE MY APPROACH
AS WELL.
>> EMMA, THE FACES OF MEDICAL
CARE ARE CHANGING.
THAT IS A TRUTH THAT YOU CAPTURE
IN YOUR BOOK.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE
FIELD AS A WHOLE?
>> I THINK THATS A CRITICAL
ISSUE IN THE CONTEXT OF A
PANDEMIC THAT DISPROPORTIONATELY
HIT COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.
AND IM SO GLAD YOU RAISED THAT.
I REMEMBER IN THE EARLY WEEKS OF
THE PANDEMIC IN NEW YORK, LAST
SPRING THERE WAS A REPORT FROM
THE CITY THAT SHOWED BLACK NEW
YORK CITY RESIDENTS WERE DYING
AT TWICE THE RATE OF WHITE NEW
YORK CITY RESIDENTS.
AND SO WERE HISPANIC CITY
RESIDENTS.
THERE WAS ALSO AN
OVERREPRESENTATION OF
HOSPITALIZATIONS AND CASE RATES
IN THOSE COMMUNITIES.
AND I THINK THAT SHARP HE KNOWSE
CALL TO BOOST DIVERSITY IN
MEDICINE.
5% OF AMERICAN DOCTORS ARE
BLACK.
5.8% ARE HISPANIC.
WE HAVE ACCESS TO MORE AND MORE
RESEARCH THAT SHOWS THAT
PATIENTS HAVE BETTER HEALTH
OUTCOMES WHEN THEYRE SEEN BY
DOCTORS WHO LOOK LIKE THEM.
THERE ARE THEYRE IN SOME CASES
MORE AGREEABLE TO HEALTH
MEASURES LIKES CHOLESTEROL TESTS
AND DIABETES SCREENINGS.
ITS NOT A SOFT, NICE-TO-HAVE
ISSUE.
THE PANDEMIC THAT
DISPROPORTIONATELY HARMED
COMMUNITIES OF COLOR SHOULD
SHARPEN THE CALLS TO DIVERSIFY
THE FIELD AND TO CONTINUE
OPENING THE PIPELINE TO MORE AND
MORE DOCTORS OF COLOR.
>> ESPECIALLY BECAUSE YOU CAN
STUDY THIS QUESTION OF INEQUITY
AS AN ACADEMIC QUESTION, I HAVE
TO IMAGINE FOR YOU BEING OUT
THERE ON THE FRONT LINES AT THE
HEIGHT OF THIS PANDEMIC, IT CAME
INTO SHARP FOCUS IN A REAL AND
PRACTICAL WAY.
>> IT TRULY DID.
IM A PROUD HISPANIC-LEBANESE
WOMAN, SO FOR ME IT HIT HOME
HARD SEEING PEOPLE WHO LOOKED
LIKE MY FAMILY MEMBERS GETTING
VERY SICK AND HAVING TO TAKE
CARE OF THEM FROM THAT, AND NOT
HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE
ALL OF THE STAFF AROUND YOU
SPEAK YOUR PRIMARY LANGUAGE.
AND SO THATS WHERE MY SPANISH
SKILLS CAME INTO PLAY THERE.
ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I GOT
INTO MEDICINE IS TO BE ABLE TO
BE THAT REPRESENTATION,
ESPECIALLY FOR PEDIATRIC
PATIENTS, BECAUSE I WANT THEM TO
SEE PEOPLE LIKE THEM IN
POSITIONS THAT THEY CAN ATTAIN
ONE DAY.