To me, the end of 2019 was mind troubling. My deeply beloved mother, 76 years, was hospitalized on Dec 4th and passed away on Dec 19th due to end stage COPD. At the same time I was reading Samuel Shem’s new novel, Man’s 4th Best Hospital, the sequel to The House of God. The contrast created by my mothers’ treatment in one the smallest hospitals in our country and the book content could not have been greater, neither was the prospect of modern medicine more grim. Continue reading
Public engagement
Infectious disease epidemiology 101
I participated in Imperial College London’s school outreach programme by doing an intro to infectious disease epidemiology with a group of year 10-12 students (age 15-18) (you can download my slides here). It was hugely rewarding and highly recommended for anybody considering supporting this sort of work. The group were sharp, good fun, and asked good questions – and perhaps included one of the next generation of infectious disease epidemiologists?
Reflections on Infection Prevention and Control 