THREAD:

I was told as a medical intern that my refusal to take the influenza vaccine was a disgrace. My argument relied on Jefferson’s Meta analysis which demonstrated it’s limited utility in healthy adults

My personal opinion was that the risk/benefit wasn’t favorable for me

I agreed for it’s use in elderly & immune compromised, but there was even an interventional trial in residents that showed no work days gained from taking the vaccine!

I also argued that there wasn’t any good randomized placebo controlled trials for the vaccine.

I also argued that ILI was a terrible endpoint to track for efficacy. None of this mattered as I received an intense barrage of insults and I feared losing my job.

But I stood my ground.

I even talked to my priest about my decision to obstain from the influenza vaccine & eventually got a religious exemption.

Of course years later the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation did me a huge favor and ran a massive placebo controlled trial which modestly decreased PCR proven influenza cases in healthy mothers but didn’t affect mortality, in mother or child.

But my program & department started to pay attention when I scored consistently in the top decile during my I service exams.

I told them 10 years ago that hepatitis C would be curable & Duchennes kids would walk

I remember as an intern my program director laughed at me when I told him hepatitis C would be curable.

Years later he apologized & said he wished he would have made investments based on my insight.

Eventually after it was consistently clear that I was beyond well-read, I was curious, authentic and hard working they asked me to be chief resident

The intern who refused the flu vaccine, was sneered at by peers, and literally scolded by the chief safety officer in a massive northeast medical system ... he became chief resident & then went to score on the 90th percentile on my board exam.

I’m not refined. I’m not polished. I learned very quickly in my chief year that I’m not cut for public facing leadership in any organizations.

One of my criticisms, that Ive received from many people, is that I potentially could be very damaging to LowCarb community.

I could very well be damaging to veneer of the low carb cause. But I will do my best to be authentic, inspired, hard working and people driven along the way.