Dr Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH, discusses health from a deeply historical social and political lens during the Coronavirus pandemic to answer the question, ‘where do we go from here?’

Dr Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH, is an emergency room doctor turned public health renegade who has devoted the last 25 years to seeing ‘the country as the patient’. Economic downturns in developed nations seem to prevent us from working ourselves to the bone and result in more time home with family, which research shows actually extends our lifespan. This contradictory insight is where we start. Most of us were squeezed for time and money prior to this pandemic. Now, what are we left with? How do we move around fear to find each other and intentionally move forward with our social and political structures? Spoiler alert: do what you love, do what you can do well, and do what you can for an extended period, preferably without being paid. But there’s lots more between our start and our conclusion, all anchored by Dr Bezruchka’s command of the social and political history of the United States & global events. Get ready for an intense and deep dive into our social, political and health realities.

Resources: 

Dr Bezruchka's faculty page: https://globalhealth.washington.edu/faculty/stephen-bezruchka

The Population Health Forum: http://depts.washington.edu/eqhlth/index.htm

The Effect of Economic Recession on Population Health: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2734206/pdf/1810281.pdf