CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Dr. Patricia Garcia grew up in the era of HIV.
She said she often told her students, "If you know HIV, you know medicine."
That's because the virus that causes AIDS affects the entire body, and it encompasses sociology and politics.
"And now here we are, another 30 years later, saying, 'If you know COVID, you know medicine,'" said Garcia, the associate dean for curriculum at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
"Once again, it's not just about the biology. But it's about health disparities and economics and structural racism in our society that makes people vulnerable to this pathogen."
A new elective course offered by the Feinberg School of Medicine provides an intensive look at COVID-19.
It's a virtual course, not surprisingly, because in-person medical education is suspended during the pandemic.
"Nothing in medical education will ever be the same, from this point forward," Garcia said.
The real-time virtual elective allows students to gain insight into the disease and its impact. The course was among the nation's first for medical students.
Topics in the COVID-19 course, which began in late March, include coronavirus virology, epidemics and pandemics -- particularly the 1918 influenza pandemic, tracking, response, readiness, SARS-CoV2 and COVID epidemiology, clinical presentation and diagnosis of COVID-19, societal decision-making (variations in preparedness and response among cities, counties and states), ethical issues around COVID-19 patient care and the ethics of resource limitation, and health disparities among communities of color and the elderly, Northwestern University said in a statement.
Northwestern faculty from numerous clinical departments, including adult and pediatric infectious disease, pulmonary and critical care medicine and medical humanities and bioethics participated in interactive sessions with the students using the Zoom platform.
"Subjects like evidence-based medicine, ethics, epidemiology, population health and health disparities can seem abstract when taught to medical students who have not yet been deeply immersed in clinical medicine," said Dr. Marianne Green, Feinberg senior associate dean for medical education and the Raymond H. Curry, MD, Professor of Medical Education at Feinberg, in a statement. "The current pandemic engages students in these topics in a real and powerful way. They know they have to build the foundation of expertise in these areas, as they will be the future leaders managing the next pandemic. There is nothing more powerful than that to drive learning."
Students participating in the elective also experience patient care through telehealth visits for COVID-19 hotline follow up through Feinberg's network of clinical affiliates and providers.
Two cohorts of students have completed the elective to date.
