So @BogochIsaac and I were asked by @ianhanomansing about the last 12 months as ID docs (who answer media calls about the pandemic!) on @CBCTheNational and as usual I had lots of thoughts AFTER...(sigh) but hey, we just had a few minutes. A few extra ponderings about 2020:
1/

Everything was disrupted. I really think everyone had to disbelieve, rage and grieve: some lost family, lost friends, lost health, lost time, lost gatherings, the loss of what you'd envisioned for yourself or your kids - almost a loss of a stable expectation of the world.
2/

Was it more or less stressful to be an infectious diseases specialist (with background knowledge about viruses, SARS 2003, pandemics, plagues, what out public health and epidemiology, and virology colleagues (and others) were facing?) Ultimately I think more knowledge ...
3/

Is less stressful than the frightening utter unknown. (example, I also eat freshly prepared streetfood when travelling because I know what I can get and how to treat it , FWIW...)
I remember thinking that misinformation could be honestly deadly.
I could see an influx of...
4/

Conspiracy theories, and misweighting of the significance of new research, and thought- if I don't pitch in where I see possible problems, I couldn't forgive myself. Do I know everything? No!! But I know smart people, I teach, and I was sifting COVID19 literature for...
5/

our Scientific Advisory Group for many hours a week. So I started saying yes to media calls, and found that journalists were trying to make sense of it for everyone (and themselves), not trying to get an embarrassing sound bite. Over time, "sensemaking" turned from...
6/

interpreting data, to trying to explain why there are sometimes extremely different views held by different experts from ID, other medical areas, epidemiology, public health, basic sciences- because everyone looking through their lenses had strong (valid) considerations but...
7/

...don't always triangulate theirs with others, and frankly everyone - doctors, scientists too! - filter through their own level of anxiety and risk as well.

I find myself seeing increasing distance between the extremes and think social media emphasizes disagreement over...
8/

Idea exchange, and gets pretty tribal.
So, how was the year?
I gained weight from sitting at my computer reading and synthesizing until all hours and stress eating. My family deserves medals. My long term patients found me distracted but (maybe because I am on the news)...
9/

seemed to listen to my advice more (?!).
I had a lot of hair fall out in about April-June (telogen effluvium), and learned not to read the comment section.
I haven't eaten out or really shopped for anything but groceries since last March. I am not the worse hairdresser...
10/

I answer a lot of questions (IRL, social and conventional media) as I can
I really think about the balance of safety, practicalities, and unknowns a lot.
I also think about how different kinds of expertise might better work together, and that most everyone is doing...
11/

...their best.
I am a chronically surprised to have a certain visibility: people seem to GET visibility for being seen as useful and / or exciting, I assume I'm the former...I worry that sharing your deepest worries or stirring controversies may court "likes" but doesn't...
12/

Actually help doomscrollers, or increase cohesion or confidence, all of which we need.
I worry that my academic colleagues might roll their eyes/think I am an attention seeker, which is unseemly in academia, but also I have had people reach out to indicate they appreciate...
13/

my (and others) efforts to be 'sensemakers", and that's why I stepped up initially.
I love my job as an Infectious Diseases doc.
This past year has been harrowing and so intense, and also so fascinating - kind of like a "be all you can be" army commercial.
Next...
14/

We can start to strategize our way out and apply what we've learned. (And fade back into obscurity).
So 2020 is a year of losses and learnings
and 2021 is the year of strategy, recovery, building, and opportunities.
(This is my longest tweet string & about nothing, really)
/fin