Health Sciences In The Media

Daniel Derksen, MD, professor of public health and director of the University of the UArizona Center for Rural Health, has been appointed to the New College of Health Solutions advisory board, a group of health leaders assembled to help the college better understand health workforce issues and the needs of Arizona’s diverse communities.

According to the CDC, Arizona has the second-highest death rate in the nation. Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, associate professor of public health policy at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman and the team leader for the university's COVID-19 Modeling Group, is interviewed.

Mohab Ibrahim, MD, PhD, medical director of the UArizona Health Sciences Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center, said he is seeing mostly diffuse muscle and joint pain. However, less common pain complaints have included headache and neuropathic pain.

Protection against COVID-19 infection has dropped significantly with Omicron, largely due to the dozens of mutations on the virus's spike protein, making it easier to spread through vaccinated and unvaccinated populations than with previous variants. Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunologist and professor at the College of Medicine – Tucson, is quoted.

John N. Galgiani, MD, a professor and director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the College of Medicine – Tucson, writes about the Arizona Board of Regents’ New Economy Initiativeand its support for a Valley Fever Collaborative among the state’s three public universities calling it a major step in recognizing Valley fever as a significant public-health and economic problem in Arizona.

For primary care physicians actually seeing patients, Arizona ranks 40th, with only 74 doctors per 100,000 residents. “Arizona has a significant shortage of physicians from top to bottom,” said Daniel Derksen, MD, a professor of public health in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Infectious disease experts share their thoughts on the CDC’s updated guidance for wearing masks. Elizabeth Connick, MD, professor and chief of the division of infectious diseases at the College of Medicine – Tucson and member of Healio's Infectious Disease News Editorial Board, is quoted.

As we head into a third year of the pandemic, Kristen Pogreba-Brown, PhD, MPH, assistant professor and epidemiologist at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, says it's too early to tell if we are on the precipice of the coronavirus becoming endemic.

The Migrant Health Interest Group at the UArizona College of Medicine – Phoenix is one example of how people within the academic medicine community — from students to administrators — are working to provide medical services to immigrants who face significant barriers to accessing the traditional health care system in the United States.

Arizona continues to average more than 20,000 COVID-19 infections per day — more than double the average number of daily cases reported during last winter's peak. Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, associate professor of public health policy at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, said the record-high case numbers are probably a fraction of cases actually out there.