Health Sciences In The Media

The University of Arizona Health Sciences is developing a lung ultrasound education program for rural emergency medicine providers to better diagnose COVID-19. Lung ultrasound can be particularly useful in rural emergency departments (EDs), as many lack CT scan capabilities or have limited access to COVID-19 testing. With the disparate impact of COVID-19 on rural populations in Arizona, it is important to expand use of the imaging tool across the state.

Continuing coverage: Dr. Andrew Weil, founder and director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona and chief science officer for Maui Grown Therapies, will give a free online presentation called "Cannabis and the Anti-inflammatory Lifestyle" on November 5.

Advice to medical students who may be doing their residency interviews virtually. Cheryl O'Malley, associate dean for graduate medical education at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, is quoted.

Sairam Parthasarathy, MD, chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson, leads the Arizona effort to reduce disparities in underrepresented communities in COVID-19 research and clinical trials.

The Phoenix Biomedical Campus, which includes the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, serves as a natural extension of the learning environment. Allison Otu, executive director of corporate and community relations for UArizona Health Sciences, is quoted.

Time spent after normal working hours on EHR-related documentation issues was the second most common cause of frustrations for physicians. A recent study by the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix found that family medicine practice providers can spend upwards of 33 hours per month working on EHR tasks during after-hours, resulting in burnout.

"I think you have to kind of learn by doing here. I think you start low and you go up slow," said Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. Masks and social distancing are a must, he added. "I think if we can take that seriously, then we can have the opportunity to enjoy ourselves and watch sports."

Similar to COVID-19, the symptoms for Valley Fever can range from fatigue, cough, and fever, to muscle and joint aches or pain along with rashes on your body. Dr. John Galgiani, director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona, said it’s important to know the symptoms. “If the COVID test is negative those patients should be tested for Valley Fever. If they have an illness that they thought might be the coronavirus, they also might have caught coccidioidomycosis."

Arizona has maintained relatively low case numbers since the summer, but they are now creeping to levels seen just a few weeks before its surge. And as a conflagration engulfs the Midwest and Mountain West, public health experts and elected officials in Arizona are pleading with residents to maintain mitigation measures they say played a critical role in beating back the virus and hold lessons for other states – including mask mandates that covered 85% of the population. "I'm becoming more of a firm believer that face masks are a truly effective intervention in this particular outbreak and should be considered our first line of defense," said Joe Gerald, a University of Arizona public health researcher who tracks coronavirus trends in the state.

The virus has claimed the lives of nearly 6,000 Arizonans since the start of the pandemic. That list includes Tolleson Union High School English teacher and assistant baseball coach Ash Freiderich. COVID-19 is once again surging across the Valley. “The storm is here. We are in it and it will only get worse until we act now,” said University of Arizona College of Medicine Public Health Director Dr. Shad Marvasti.