Make Every Word Count

From The CEO Next Door by EL Botelho and KR Powell

Over the last 3 months I have sat through interminable Zoom meetings with much talk, little action and even less decisiveness.

The COVID-19 pandemic is coupled with an epidemic of verborrhagia.

We would be better off with clarity, specificity and brevity in our meetings.

Make Every Word Count.

Zero Percent Complaining: Work and Life Ethos

Today I visited the VCU Athletic Center to guide them in the process of safely returning the athletes to training and keeping them free of COVID-19.

Per the basketball coach, the team ethos is "Zero Percent Complaining"- with posters prominently displayed in the environment. 

I agree.

One can choose to be either the hero or the victim, but not both.

Storytelling in Medicine and COVID-19: VCU Internal Medicine Grand Rounds

Above is last week's VCU Internal Medicine Grand Rounds (full video) on storytelling in medicine and COVID-19. 

The presentation featured my colleague and co-editor of VCU's Medical Literary Messenger, Dr. Megan Lemay. Dr. Richard Wenzel was also featured. 

High quality.

Respect the Pandemic: Epidemiologists are Humble in the Face of COVID-19 and Acknowledge Uncertainty

Source: Forbes.com

It seems that epidemiologists are humble, we commonly acknowledge the unknowns in the  COVID-19 pandemic. This comes from humility and respect for infectious diseases.

Others speak with certainty in the face of COVID-19, with no epidemiology credentials.  I previously wrote about an epidemic of armchair epidemiologists- available here.

This article in the NY Times explores the importance of responding to COVID-19 with both humility and apprehension.

I could not agree more.

Show Respect to Others: Wear A Mask in Public

Source: Richmond Times Dispatch

Congratulations to my VCU colleague Dr. Alan Dow on a recent opinion essay published In the Richmond Times Dispatch. The essay, Masks- a new sign of respect, is available here.

Masks are worn in public for source control, to minimize respiratory viral droplet emission, thereby reducing the risk of contagion.  Face masks are critical non pharmacologic interventions to minimize the transmission of SARS-CoV2. 

To go unmasked in public, particularly in closed spaces, is disrespectful and devoid of  altruism.

New Book from VCU: Musculoskeletal Infections-A Clinical Casebook

Published!

Congratulations to VCU ID faculty Dr. Julie Reznicek and VCU Orthopedics faculty Dr. Paul Perdue on the newly published Musculoskeletal Infections: A Clinical Case Book (Springer Publishing) The first of its kind.

More information, along with a free preview, is available here.

SARS-CoV 2 Re-Testing Fixation: The VCU Experience and A Reminder to Reason

We continue to receive multiple calls daily to re-test patients for SARS CoV2 infection, despite negative tests within the previous 24-48 hours. Medical teams are falling victim to the clinical diagnostic errors of anchoring and availability, both neat explored in this NEJM perspective.

We recently published our experience with retesting hospitalized patients with a negative initial SARS-CoV2 test, available here. Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV2 conversion from negative to positive is uncommon.

We must remember to reason, to be aware of our diagnostic reasoning biases.

You Get What You Give: The New Radicals, COVID-19 and Government Stringency Index

Source: University of Oxford.

I borrow today's theme from 90's pop-rock band, the New Radicals only hit song: You Get What You Give. In this case, when governments fail to give guidance and provide oversight on a national COVID-19 response, the result is less than optimal.

I refer you to the University of Oxford Government Response Tracker, website accessible here. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) systematically collects information on several different common policy responses governments have taken, scores the stringency of such measures, and aggregates these scores into a common Stringency Index.

The more stringent the guidance and oversight given by a government, coupled with public trust in government, the greater the return on limiting COVID-19 transmission.

Absent truly effective treatment and vaccination, testing and other non-pharmacologic interventions are critical in the pandemic response. 

This requires stringency in oversight.

Congratulations Dr. Pamela Bailey: VCU Master of Public Health Commencement 2020

Congratulations to Dr. Pamela Bailey, VCU 3rd year infectious diseases fellow, on her graduation from the VCU Master of Public Health (MPH) program.

The virtual commencement ceremony was held last evening (5/8/20), where I was delighted to share words of praise and congratulations about Pam. 

Dr. Bailey was hugely successful as an ID fellow, well liked by all, ambitious and successful both clinically and academically (with multiple published papers and abstracts). 

No doubt, Dr. Bailey will go on to do great things at her next position, Assistant Professor and Associate Epidemiologist at  the University of South Carolina.

Kudos.

From the Archives: The Matthew Effect in Science

Finally, something other than COVID-19.

Here is an article that I recently discovered deep in the archives.

The Matthew Effect in Science is akin to the phenomenon of “winning begets more winning” in sport. The Matthew Effect in Science, full PDF is accessible here.

The more you write and submit, the more you publish, the greater the reputation, the greater the acknowledgment and opportunity, the greater the resources and the greater the chance of future success.

Wins beget more wins.

Does This Bookcase Make One Look Smart?

Books in the Blogger's Office. Intellectual Credibility? Not so much.

Does this bookcase make one look smart? Not sure but many media interviews are now filmed or streamed with shelved books in the background. The topic is explored here in the NY Times.

I get it, books are a pleasing aesthetic and suggest a level of intellectual rigor, particularly if the books on display were actually read by the individual in the foreground. I recently saw a few bookshelf backdrops on Zoom calls which were clearly a digital prop. Not so cool.

So I propose the following 'guidance': To avoid looking like a poser, use your own books as props, ones that you have a least skimmed. 

Greater expert credibility comes from not only what one has read, but from what one has published, preferably in the peer reviewed literature.