COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2020

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 5 BIG APPLE ANGUISH Interview date: Early May 2020, immediately following New York’s crisis peak Call it a COVID-19 baptism by fire. When Peter Andrade, D.O., a plastic and reconstructive surgeon based in New York, decided to volunteer in the COVID-19 units at the two hospitals he works at in Brooklyn and Staten Island in early April, he received a heartbreaking introduction to the mayhem the virus was wreaking. Sadly, it would be the first of many shattering scenes he would witness firsthand during the time he spent as a volunteer physician. Harrowing Initiation As he entered the COVID-19 unit at the Brooklyn-based hospital for the first time, the words “Does anyone speak Spanish?” were said with a sense of urgency by an unknown voice. “I speak Spanish. How can I help?” replied Andrade, a 2009 NSU Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine alumnus. Volunteering at the COVID-19 Epicenter BY SCOTT COLTON, B.A., APR (continued on page 6)