COVID-19 Tips for Public Health Students and Professionals
Help by teaching
Help friends and family by directing them to proper sources. Great opportunity to teach them how to select the proper source (CDC, WHO, Ministry of Health).
Avoid critical conversations
Try your best to avoid arguing or getting deeply involved in critical conversations that are emotionally charged and judgmental.
Remember that people are scared
Remember that most people still do not understand public health, much less, epidemiology.
They are having a hard time conceptualizing the outbreak and the response.
Fears are being fueled by popular television shows and recent movies. I cannot tell you how many analogies I’ve heard about COVID-19 and The Walking Dead.
Take care of yourself physically, emotionally, mentally
Remember to take care of yourselves. As public health professionals, we are hyper-focused on protecting the public and our families, but we can easily neglect ourselves (physically, emotionally, and mentally).
Temporary public health roles
Fill temporary public health roles and help out where you can. There is a great need for additional help within most public health agencies and many have started recruiting for temporary job positions.
Regularly check their websites for potential temporary job postings
Students - reach out to your university’s school of public health and see if they have organized any sort of opportunities for students to help out
Optimize your LinkedIn profile. I’ve been contacted by several organizations asking me about epidemiology consulting services. They found me through searching LinkedIn.
Prepare yourself professionally
Prepare yourself to step up and help where you can. This is a public health crisis, and we are the public health professional community.
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