On April 13, 2022 we were honored to have Dr. Nicholas Asselin, Medical Director, Lifespan EpiCenter and Assistant Professor at Brown University, speak to the faculty and students at the annual Health Studies Symposium.  Dr. Asselin is an ER physician who helped direct Rhode Island’s COVID efforts, including developing the field hospital at the Rhode Island Convention Center in collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Dr. Asselin’s presentation, What Wave Is This? COVID Through the Eyes of an Accidental Public Health Physician, provided a moving and informative account of his experience on the front lines of the pandemic.  Dr. Asselin addressed this new reality from both a medical and public health perspective. He recounted his experiences at LifePACT Critical Care Transport during the pandemic and how he and the emergency medical staff coped with the stress and sometimes using computer-generated parts because there were none. He also spoke of how community support for healthcare workers was very meaningful in helping to manage the day-to-day hardships of providing care in such a challenging and changing environment.