Covering COVID-19

Addressing the crisis, medical and professional leadership from the Touro College & University System and New York Medical College hosted “Coronavirus: What We Know, What We Don’t Know, What You Need to Know, Part 2” to educate clinical healthcare professionals, healthcare administrators, public health professionals, the media and the public about the coronavirus. The webinar was Touro’s second such event since the advent of the virus.

Touro’s webinar, which was followed by people across the U.S., focused on transmission, symptoms and how to manage the outbreak.

“It seems hard to believe that only two months ago we were presenting our initial coronavirus educational seminar,” said Alan Kadish, M.D., President of Touro College and New York Medical College. “Who then could truly envision what life would feel like under lockdown and quarantine? As my friend and colleague Dr. Edward Halperin pointed out at our first summit, pandemics tend to bring out the worst and best in people… I’m proud to say that it’s brought out the best in members of the wide Touro family who are rising to the occasion across the globe.”

“New York Medical College is actively working on the problem and actively involved in the development of clinical studies," said NYMC Chancellor and CEO Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., who discussed the history of medicine and bigotry during the program, stating that “viruses don’t have nationalities and we shouldn’t be naming diseases after a people or a country.”

The full roster of speakers and topics included:

• Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice, NYMC, former Regional Health Administrator, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and former Medical Epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – The epidemiology of COVID-19—what we know so far and what we are likely to learn
• Marisa Montecalvo, M.D., Infectious Disease Specialist – The clinical management of suspected and confirmed cases
• Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., Chancellor/CEO of NYMC – A medical historian’s perspective on bigotry and xenophobia during a pandemic
• Sherlita Amler, M.D., M.S., Adjunct Professor of Public Health at NYMC and Commissioner of Health, Westchester County, New York – Preventing COVID-19; public health measures
• Rodger Citron, Associate Dean and Professor of Law – Legal and policy issues during a pandemic
• Jeff Lichtman, Ph. D., Assistant  Professor, Jewish Childhood Education and Special Education – Managing and minimizing normal anxiety amidst the virus quarantine

“People have compared what we’re all going through with the pandemic of 1918,” said Dr. Kadish. “The most glaring difference is that science and medicine have vastly improved since then. I have great confidence that in the weeks to come, in addition to the frightening news of rising cases, we will also be encouraged by testing and treatment breakthroughs. That has been the history of science and healthcare. Every country has been racing for the cure and, G-d willing, this pandemic will be behind us much sooner than previous generations had to wait for cures. In the meantime, we must be patient and we must do the right thing, which includes staying home, practicing social distancing seriously and following basic hygiene precautions, such as good hand washing before touching our faces.”