In the World With COVID-19: Our Duty to Serve

Written by Joseph Kalanzi, MD, Chief Resident Emergency Medicine at Makerere University College of Health Sciences

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If there is one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me, it is that it is our duty to serve. Being faced with the possibility of contracting this deadly disease while in the line of duty in the Emergency Department was a painful reality I had not braced myself to handle. The usual muscle aches and mild flu from a long shift leave me debating whether I have finally come down with the virus.

In the World With COVID-19: Ten Months Now

Written by Saida Agliullina, MD, Nuvance Health / University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine Global Health Scholars Program Alumnus from Kazan State Medical University, Russia

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For ten months now, the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has been with us in our daily lives. I'm not as fearful as I was six months ago, but sometimes feel scared when it comes to the passing of people I know. I'm especially sad when young people die. Unfortunately, this is the reality we live in. Scientists everywhere are working to create a safe, effective treatment and vaccine as the whole world lives in expectation and hope.

In the World With COVID-19: Faces in the Pandemic

Written by Stephen Scholand, MD, Founder of Rabies Free World and Nuvance Health Global Health Program Site Director in Arizona, Thailand, and Vietnam

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I pull on the door, a thin frame of aluminum layered with heavy-duty plastic. The whirring becomes louder as the door unstuck. A network of Mylar ducts snake forth on the floor, running to different rooms in the COVID-19 ward. Controlling the airflow is essential to preventing infection, given the unseen but ever-present dangers of the virus. A breach in protocol could cause havoc in the hospital.

In the World With COVID-19: My Life at the Time of Covid-19

Dr. Shalote Chipamaunga-Bamu, Senior Lecturer, Department of Health Professions Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe

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I left Zimbabwe on February 28, 2020 and landed in the USA on the 29th on university duty leave to attend a health professions education post-graduate fellowship. COVID-19 infection had been labelled an epidemic then, before it became clearly pandemic and many activities and events were affected. I was in the country for two days when the news of the fellowship cancellation came through. Devastating as this news was, it was unavoidable. Although I had taken some days leave before and after the fellowship to visit with family, I was subsequently on lockdown in Maryland, USA.

In the World With COVID-19: Oddity of a Shared Experience While Living Continents Apart from My Paraguayan Friends

Written by Jett Choquette, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine Class of 2023

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In early March, I had a Zoom call with the other community health Peace Corps volunteers I served with in Paraguay from 2014-2016. One of my colleagues who still lives there shared his impression of the Paraguayan response to COVID-19 compared to that of the US this spring: “Here [Paraguay] everything is locked down. Police will stop you if you’re on the street to ask why you’re out. People are getting restless because, as you know, here many people don’t eat if they don’t work. But Paraguay is taking this seriously. It’s mind-blowing to hear what’s happening in the United States. It’s hard to believe the news of people protesting masks and attending large gatherings during these times.”

In the World With COVID-19: Moving Forward Into the Constantly Evolving New Normal

Written by Mitra Sadigh, Writer/Editor/Researcher at the Nuvance Health Global Health Program

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Bearing no similarity to our traditional global health elective, which relied heavily on field learning, this arising model is entirely new. Though we on the domestic side traditionally oriented participants in cultural humility, culture shock, harm prevention, and other global health competencies, the most vital learning occurred on-the-ground at our partner sites under the guidance of our trained and skillful international colleagues.

In the World With COVID-19: A Professional and Thoughtful Approach to Virtual Conferencing Services

Written by Mary Shah, MLS AHIP, Medical Librarian & Archivist at Norwalk Hospital

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COVID-19 has put us all in places we had never imagined we’d be: isolated in our homes, or wherever we rest our head at the end of the shift. In an effort to keep everyone safe from disease transmission, meetings and classes are now being held using electronic video conferencing services for business meetings, webinars, long-distance education and for social interactions. In these unprecedented times, it is important to be aware that much more information is being communicated using this venue than the actual spoken word through these online exchanges.

In the World With COVID-19: Facing Up With the Reality of the Lockdown: Early-Unpensionable Retirement Part II

Written by Justus Ibrahim, Coordinator of International Programs Engagements at the African Community Center for Social Sustainability (ACCESS), Uganda

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Mixed feelings emanating from lockdown outpourings have indeed swayed me. I feel like a man who has been forced to retire when he is unprepared. Moreover, this retirement is not pensionable. I am professionally redundant and vexed by furloughing that required me to abruptly tread in the path leading to my ancestral home… Lessons of the old saying, East – West, home is best is sharply resounding with its emissary echoes.

In the World With COVID-19: Facing Up With the Reality of the Lockdown: Early-Unpensionable Retirement Part I

Written by Justus Ibrahim, Coordinator of International Programs Engagements at the African Community Center for Social Sustainability (ACCESS), Uganda

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It was late February to mid-March 2020 that the unusual outpoured. I was busy attending to my vocational obligations which include global health program coordination. I am passionate about authenticating my career in global health, yet these vibrations are for the meantime dismayed. Coordinating global health placement for MPH students from Touro University was among several activities I was involved in running at the African Community Center for Social Sustainability (ACCESS) Uganda Nakaseke headquarters. 

In the World With COVID-19: A Longitudinal Global Health Curriculum at UVMLCOM

Written by Audree Frey, Coordinator of the Global Health Program at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine

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As we think about what global health engagement looks like during the era of COVID-19, we have the opportunity to not only deepen our relationships with our international partners but also to increase access to global health education regardless of ability to travel abroad.