COVID19 Shines Light on Post Pandemic Education in Public Health and Gerontology
Most of the news these days is focused on the negative. Death. Destruction. Corruption. And more.
But hidden amongst the news are a few gems of leaders who have been mostly behind the scenes until the crisis. It forced those who had backgrounds of taking care of the most fragile, and identified data around our health, to the forefront. Examples that come to mind from unauspcious places like the left coast of Canada in Drs. Bonnie Henry and Deena Hinshaw, and Omaha, Nebraska, in Drs. Adi Pour and Ali Khan. So very vast in their places of birth and moves to their new homes in British Columbia, Alberta and Nebraska respectively with one thing in common:
Public Health.
Public Health might not have popped up on the TOP 5 Buzzfeed lists for best employment options like Technology, STEM, Bioinformatics or Business, but it is and will continually be more and more important. Pandemics amplify that, but now more than ever, our health will be the most sought after wealth in the coming decades. And our environment, policies and economy will all be shaped by our public health principles. Things like workplace flexibility, transportation accessibility and safety, food options and yes, sanitation, will seem as old as 35-hour work weeks, smoking rules and ingredient labels. Yes, that was public health.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw from Alberta is obviously my favourite. Full disclosure I grew up outside Camrose, a town of just 15,000 people then, where she did her undergrad at Augustana and focused her Family Medicine on elderly care, according to the UAlberta News:
“She was always calm, collected and very quiet,” said Jasneet Parmar, the geriatric-care specialist in the U of A's Department of Family Medicine who supervised Hinshaw during her residency. “You never got the feeling it was about her. I was curious, because elderly care is not an area that is oversubscribed; it’s not like you’re going to get a lot of attention or money.”
"(E)lderly care is not an area that is oversubscribed; it’s not like you’re going to get a lot of attention or money."
Hinshaw and Henry come from small places. Hinshaw was born in the Northwest Territories and lived in rural Alberta. Henry from the very small Prince Edward Island. Hinshaw's focus on elderly care and public health stand out to me. Someone who's grandmother was a nurse and worked at long-term care facility. My mom also began working at one just before the pandemic. Maybe it's because I admire them and their ability to help other people who need it most.
In education purposes, the University of Alberta from which Hinshaw is from, is just one of two accredited Public Health schools in Canada. In Omaha, the College at UNMC and its deep connection to University of Nebraska at Omaha opens doors with Gerontology, Health and Kinesiology and Medical Humanities are a perfect blend to a future in public health and elderly care in general as our population ages and protecting our vulnerable against future pandemics becomes a priority.
If you, your children, or friends are looking at a field that needs smart people like the four I mentioned above. Give them a look. You may not be in the New York Times or on a T-Shirt like our pandemic stars, but you will be contributing to one of the most significant fields of our times in the next couple decades and helping literally everyone. And there's no better place to do it, than in Alberta or Nebraska. Who knows, maybe the next public health leader won't come from outside the state, province or country, but right in your own family in rural Alberta, or the inner city of Omaha, Nebraska.