Podcast: Long COVID, Geocoding and Holistic Care
The co-director of the Miami VA Long Covid Clinic joins guest host Latha Chandran, executive dean for education at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, for the latest “Inside U Miami Medicine” podcast.
Dr. Latha Chandran, executive dean for education, speaks with Dr. Ana Palacio about long COVID.
When physicians haven’t been trained to tackle a disease, how do they provide the best care for patients?
In the face of a perplexing illness like long COVID, medical practitioners are finding themselves at a crossroads, grappling with a lack of standardized training on how to effectively treat patients.
Despite the medical community’s recently enhanced understanding of long COVID, patients and health care providers continue to navigate the complexities of this condition, including ambiguous definitions, varying medical opinions and symptoms that overlap with other illnesses.
“People enduring long COVID feel like physicians aren’t listening to them. Yet at the same time, doctors often feel frustrated that they do not have the resources and the information and the time to deal with this,” said Ana Palacio, M.D., M.P.H., director of University of Miami Program in Research Education and co-director of Miami VA Long COVID Clinic.
In the absence of a clear roadmap, Dr. Palacio is drawing upon her own fascinating journey in medicine to formulate a patient-centric approach at her long COVID clinic.
“Every piece of my life came together for this ultimate purpose – to help patients struggling with long COVID,” she said.
In a recent episode of “Inside U Miami Medicine,” guest-hosted by Latha Chandran, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., executive dean for education at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Palacio sheds light on why adopting a holistic approach to care, coupled with a profound comprehension of social determinants of health, is crucial for the recovery of long COVID patients.
“None of us were trained to do this, but it’s real and it exists,” Dr. Palacio said.
Tags: COVID-19, Dr. Ana Palacio, Inside U Miami Medicine podcast, long covid