Dr. Maggie Nolan ’05 and her husband, Dr. Matt Nolan, along with their three young children, are adjusting to life with COVID-19.
Maggie, a resident in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s preventive medicine program, is part of a team working on ways to allocate ventilators and other critical care resources if there aren’t enough to go around during a surge of COVID-19 patients.
Matt, a critical care specialist and pulmonologist at UnityPoint Health-Meriter, has been the main doctor in that facility’s intensive care unit recently. His potential exposure led him to sequester himself in the family’s basement, and may eventually require him to find a completely separate living space. The family currently interacts with him from a distance, something that’s been a challenge to explain to their children, ages 6, 3, and 1.
Despite the need for hyper-vigilance, Madison, Wisconsin, had more time to prepare for the virus, and therefore was “ahead of the curve” in early April. Read the full article here.
#TellUsTigers Q&A: Tanesha Brown, nurse manager, University Health Services
Tanesha Brown, the nurse manager at University Health Services, is a critical member of the University’s coronavirus preparedness team, working with a broad range of departments and colleagues across campus. She reflects on addressing the fear of the unknown, how she practices self-care and the most important things she wants people to know during the coronavirus crisis. Read more …
University president uses medical degree to help inform university COVID-19 response
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel ’79 ran an immunobiology lab for 20 years and is a board-certified internist. That background helped him see the potential scale of the pandemic, and to make decisions about students overseas and in-person instruction, sooner than he might have otherwise. He was also better equipped to communicate with experts through that process.
Read more about how he and other university presidents responded here.
When It’s Safer to Stay Apart
Jordan Salama ’19 shares the story of his family leaving New York City, while his father, an infectious disease physician in New York City, stays behind to do his job.
Salama recounts the moment when the family realized how deeply the virus could affect them, and highlights the importance of everyone doing their part to protect not only themselves, but also the healthcare workers who risk everything to keep others safe.
Read the full story at Scientific American.