COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2020

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 25 First-Person Perspectives influencers. I had confidence that they would carry the message and propose the activities that any public health professionals and epidemiologists knew needed to happen. Most of my undergraduate students knew what we needed to do. It isn’t rocket science; it is basic epidemiology 101. While the interplay between economic, social, and health factors in decision-making is incredibly complex and dynamic, what is always clear is that prevention, prepared- ness, transparency, and serious collaboration across respected multidisciplinary experts is always the recipe for disaster mitigation. These are not lessons to be learned from COVID-19—these are lessons we have learned repeatedly since the recording of history. The news has been shocking—doctors begging for testing kits from early January, autopsies revealing the cause of death as COVID-19, people coughing up blood on airplanes, and nurses with limited personal protective equipment. Just as painful is the economic disaster affecting millions as the income gap continues to widen and antici- pated health inequities make the news. Unfortunately, as I write this in May, all most of us can do is isolate—and wait, and wait, and wait—for testing to be ramped up, case counts to explode, surveillance to begin in earnest, and research to be conducted. Only with more knowledge can we plan a way out of this. Public health can be dismaying but rewarding. Public health professionals are a large group of optimists who believe we can make a difference. As a professor, I do not want to project hopelessness. I want to look into my students’ eyes and awaken passion, creativity, and enthusiasm for change. Now, when we talk about COVID-19, we discuss how reducing various forms of transportation will give our planet a chance to heal and be a long-awaited catalyst for telemedicine adoption. Additionally, we discuss how this forced practice of radical acceptance builds resiliency, critical think- ing, and connectedness among our future public health workforce, who I am absolutely confident will use every lesson learned today to improve our world tomorrow. Nicole Cook is an associate professor of public health. Prevention, preparedness, transparency, and serious collaboration across respected multidisciplinary experts is always the recipe for disaster mitigation.