By Lorena Morejón-Lasso '22
The COVID-19 pandemic feels like the first undeniably life-altering moment for many people today who were too young to remember 9/11. It feels as though we are living through history while it is happening and one day we'll look back with many of the answers and judge whether we made the right decisions. However, right now, we don’t have those answers, so we have to keep going with the best information we have — fighting to strike a balance between “flattening the curve” to save as many human lives as possible and preventing the fallout of the economy that enables the production and distribution of essential resources we need to survive. Despite the tragedy we currently face, it is equally inspiring to see how humanity has found ways to carry on, to keep human interaction alive even through technology.
This past spring semester, I had the wonderful opportunity to take part in the "U.S. Healthcare: Poverty and Policy" seminar. Strangely enough, it was during our spring break seminar immersion trip to Washington, D.C., that the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Not long afterward, we received notification from the administration at Notre Dame that our classes would be moved to online instruction, further cementing the reality of the situation. It was surreal to be in the capital of this country discussing healthcare policy with national leaders and organizations during a public health crisis such as this.
A common topic of discussion during our trip was the fact that the vast majority of insured individuals receive healthcare coverage through their employers. However, due to the financial strain of social distancing, millions of Americans have lost their jobs; as a result, many of these individuals have been left without healthcare insurance in the middle of a pandemic. While I am no healthcare expert, it would suffice to say that this is incredibly problematic. In this aspect and others, I have come to realize the importance of compassion in all areas of healthcare, from medicine to public health policy. Now more than ever it is important to recognize that healthcare is a human right. For physicians, keeping this in mind is another way to incorporate compassion in medicine — compassion rooted in an understanding of social and economic factors that contribute to health outcomes.
The COVID-19 pandemic feels like the first undeniably life-altering moment for many people today who were too young to remember 9/11. It feels as though we are living through history while it is happening and one day we'll look back with many of the answers and judge whether we made the right decisions. However, right now, we don’t have those answers, so we have to keep going with the best information we have — fighting to strike a balance between “flattening the curve” to save as many human lives as possible and preventing the fallout of the economy that enables the production and distribution of essential resources we need to survive. Despite the tragedy we currently face, it is equally inspiring to see how humanity has found ways to carry on, to keep human interaction alive even through technology.
This past spring semester, I had the wonderful opportunity to take part in the "U.S. Healthcare: Poverty and Policy" seminar. Strangely enough, it was during our spring break seminar immersion trip to Washington, D.C., that the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Not long afterward, we received notification from the administration at Notre Dame that our classes would be moved to online instruction, further cementing the reality of the situation. It was surreal to be in the capital of this country discussing healthcare policy with national leaders and organizations during a public health crisis such as this.
A common topic of discussion during our trip was the fact that the vast majority of insured individuals receive healthcare coverage through their employers. However, due to the financial strain of social distancing, millions of Americans have lost their jobs; as a result, many of these individuals have been left without healthcare insurance in the middle of a pandemic. While I am no healthcare expert, it would suffice to say that this is incredibly problematic. In this aspect and others, I have come to realize the importance of compassion in all areas of healthcare, from medicine to public health policy. Now more than ever it is important to recognize that healthcare is a human right. For physicians, keeping this in mind is another way to incorporate compassion in medicine — compassion rooted in an understanding of social and economic factors that contribute to health outcomes.