Well Dukes

Ep. 1 Campus & COVID w/ Dr. Guertler

September 02, 2020 Dr. Guertler, MD & Jordan McCann Season 1 Episode 1
Well Dukes
Ep. 1 Campus & COVID w/ Dr. Guertler
Show Notes Transcript

Here it is! Our very first episode! We recorded this episode right before classes started while we were still waiting with cautious optimism for the start of the semester.
While we have removed some pieces that are sensitive to the Sept. 1st announcement, we wanted to keep this episode as we acknowledge many students are continuing to live in the Harrisonburg community and among one another.
 
We figured we needed to address the obvious and start off with a discussion about what life is going to be like for JMU students this semester. Jordan McCann, our interim Associate Director chats with the University Health Center's own Dr. Guertler, MD about what students can continue doing as they experience being around others more. Dr. Guertler shares what this time has been like for him in his role and his hopes for the Madison Experience moving forward.

Full episode transcript can be found here.
Follow us on social media @JMUWellDukes and subscribe to see each week's episode every Wednesday!

Be Well Dukes!

All episodes of Season 1 (2020 - 2021) were recorded  when The Office of Health Promotion or, The Well, was a part of the University Health Center and located in the Student Success Center. As of summer 2021, The Well no longer exists and we are now UREC Health Promotion. Check out Season 2 Episode 1 to learn more about these changes or visit JMU University Recreation's website.

Well Dukes Podcast Episode 1

Intro: Hi there! Welcome to Well Dukes, brought to you by… The Well! 

Each week you'll hear conversations from a variety of JMU staff and students, that we hope challenge what you know, think, or do in regard to your own health and help you be WELL DUKES.  

Jordan: Hello everyone! Welcome to the first episode of the Well Dukes podcast. I’m Jordan McCann and I am the Interim Associate Director of Health Promotion here at the Well. Planning and creating this podcast has definitely been the highlight of these past few months for me and I’m so excited to be doing this, not only with you the listeners, but also our first guest, a very very important figure on campus during this pandemic, our Health Center’s medical director Dr. Andrew Guertler. So, hello Dr. Guertler. Thank you for joining me this morning. Um… to start us out, can you go ahead and just explain a little bit about what your role as medical director typically involves?

Dr. Guertler: So, as medical director, I’m the person who helps organize, um, how we provide medical care. Uh, kind of overseeing the types of things we do, the quality. I assist in overseeing the pharmacy and the medications we supply, um, making sure that we are serving the students to the best of our ability. Um, same with the lab. We oversee external contracts such as radiology or, um, sports medicine. Um, so a variety of things that all relate to the medical care of the student. The medical perspective and the quality of care and the types of care that we provide come under my supervision and my responsibility.

Jordan: Just some small things there. [Laughter]. Uh, so how long have you been at JMU?

Dr. Guertler: Well, this is my second go-around with JMU. I was actually here from uh, 1977 to 1981 as a student. That’s when White Hall was the last dorm on campus. Across the interstate was just cow fields. I think we had about 7500 students at the time. Most recently, I started here in 2010 having finished up a career of emergency medicine, where I spent 25 years doing that. So I’ve been here for 10 years. And the last four years I’ve been medical director.

Jordan: Well we’re happy to have you. Thank you for sharing that little visual of what campus was like. Um, so of course no surprise, we are in a very different time right now, um, unexpected. But I’m- I’m an optimistic person and so throughout all of this, I have held onto hope that I think we can… this will- we will eventually get through this pandemic and things will get better. But I-- being part of the health center in my role, of course, I’ve enjoyed getting your emails throughout the summer all about the COVID updates. 

Jordan: So Dr. Guertler has kind of been nicknamed our own little Dr. Fauci as he has been doing a great job keeping us updated with case numbers, um, the trends and cases and testing and what we can expect to see and what's been going on not only in our, you know, Harrisonburg but the Shenandoah Valley. But um, what has that been like for you and did you ever think you'd have to take something like this on in your career in college health? 

Dr. Guertler: Well, uh the second answer is absolutely not. I can speak for every health center director across the country saying this is not something they would ever have expected. You know to have small outbreaks and-- a couple years ago, we had the mumps outbreak which really wasn't that big a deal when you look at this that, uh, you know at the time it was a big deal. Now, it's not. So no, I never expected to take on something like this. It's been an education every day. So on the one hand I certainly wish it never would come around on the other hand, it's here. Um and it's giving me the opportunity to learn new things. We change directions on a regular basis based upon all the information that comes out. 

Dr. Guertler: So it is keeping us on our toes, which has been beneficial. It's been interesting so it has kept the job interesting for me. Sorry it has to be the circumstances, though.

Jordan: Yeah, you actually made a good-- I just thought of a good question: what do you think some lessons will be from this that we learn not only as professionals in the medical realm but also what would be some lessons you think students can learn from this experience?

Dr. Guertler: Well, to me, I hope the biggest lesson that is learned is for people to trust science, um you know, this all has to be scientifically driven. This is all new. I hope it teaches people patience. We’d love to have an answer tomorrow, all of us, but things move slowly and if you want to do it right they have to move slowly. Um, it has to teach us, you know, grace with each other. These are trying times for all of us-- none of us like wearing a mask. None of us like the fact that our past lives have been significantly disrupted and we can't hang out like we used to. It’s lousy. But it's the nature of where we're at at this time and, you know, to understand that we, that what we do affects others and what others do affects us. If we can come together as a community and look out for each other we will get through this and we'll get through this stronger.

Dr. Guertler: Um. I suspect that mask wearing in the future is going to be the new normal preventative medicine, so I- I, you know, these changes that are occurring... people need to, you know, come to terms with at first and then embrace. As good methods to protect themselves and protect each other and then, you know, JMU to me has always been a community when I was here as a student it was a community. People talk about holding doors open and that's true… geez thirty some years ago, it was true thirty years ago and it's true today and so I think the vast majority of students can embrace that and learn that that is the way forward for us.

Jordan: Thank you. Speaking of, yeah, moving forward with that, we know at the time of this recording, students are just now kind of arriving back on campus. Classes haven't started yet so we are certainly sitting, waiting in anticipation, hopeful. But now that students are back what can they start doing? We know the big ones: wearing masks, washing their hands, social distancing... But what are some other things that students can continue doing or still continue to be mindful of not only in regards to preventing the coronavirus and you know stopping the spread but other health concerns?

Dr. Guertler: Well, you know, you sort of covered the big ones that they can be and need to be doing and if they do those things then you know, our future looks brighter. You know, so wearing masks at all times: people have this idea that you know, it's okay to have a gathering of 10. And it is okay to have a gathering of 10 but you should be wearing masks in that gathering of 10 until you have a little social bubble that... You can develop a social bubble of people that you're hanging around with, that you live with. And, you know with that group, it’s sort of like your little family group. So that you don’t need to be wearing masks around that group. But when a newcomer steps into that group, that changes the dynamics. Being aware of who you know, who's in your social bubble and those who are not, you know, you need to add... you know prevention. And you know, if people would just look outwards--  what can I do to help others? You know, look at mask wearing. And distancing. Those types of things as a service to others and each other helping themselves-- when people do that, then it makes it easier. It makes it feel like everybody's working for each other.

Dr. Guertler: You know, the other things are to, you know, You've heard the term social distance & physical distance. You want to get rid of the term social distancing. We’re social animals. We need to be in society with each other. Physical distancing just means we can be with each other-- it's just a little bit of space between us. And so we need to maintain those contacts and if we know of somebody in isolation, picking up the phone or doing a Zoom with them or something like that. Talk to them so that they don't feel as isolated. Same with those in quarantine because you know, it's tough to be by yourself for 14 days and not really being able to interact much. And by doing those things you make it easier for those people. And maybe make it less tempting for those people to break isolation because they can't take it anymore. Um, I freely admit. I would be horrible in isolation. I would have to get my camping gear out and go up to the mountains, so I could be outside.

Jordan: You know, thank you for saying that because I-I know I'm guilty of even using the term socially distance. And that you make such a good point that it's-- no it's not saying that we need to be distant. You know in our behaviors as far as like interacting with one another but we just have to adapt to where we are now and that means that while we can still talk to one another and see one another and our friends...  just a little bit further apart, right?

Dr. Guertler: Yeah.

Jordan: Whatever six feet is to someone in their mind. Whether that's you know, for some people that's their own height. We heard the joke, you know, it's like a few are used to being on a farm. It's about the size of a cow, so if you can just imagine a cow between you-- that may not resonate with everyone. [Laughs] Um, but yeah and and so I think especially working in health promotion, so much of the work that we do is rooted in harm reduction. And I've really been looking at like the harm reduction component of COVID education and it goes along with that is we're not saying we don't want people to still try to continue their lives, we know people want to be around others and see one another we want to reduce the harm, you know, reducing the harm there and that means… How do we allow you to continue the behavior which you're used to, but safely? And that's at a distance and wearing masks.

Dr. Guertler: Right. Yeah. Well said.

Jordan: And I love that I've seen how JMU is adapting to that, you know, with the tents outside being able to provide more outdoor spacing and seating for students, all of the stickers around… And so I'm hopeful. I don't want to say I'm excited because again, this is a weird time to really still say you're excited about things but I I'm happy to see how we have continued to come together, as you said, as a community to try to keep us here, you know, keep students here and be safe. Yeah.

Dr. Guertler: Yeah and, my perspective has been, thus far, been that a majority of our students are all on board with that. It’s a minority I think that maybe haven’t come to terms with this being important for one reason or the other. Or I think it's people letting their guards slip, you know, I'm hanging the friend yeah, I trust them I hang out with them and they come to find out that they were exposed to somebody and they really didn't tell anybody, you know? This is... some people think yeah that there's some type of stigma associated with COVID19. There’s not-- it's like, you know, I got a cold, I got the flu. It's just in this case there's a little bit more attached to that. You know… It’s not like people are, you know, it’s… I hope, number one, that people don’t feel stigmatized. And number two, people shouldn’t be stigmatizing those with this It’s going to happen to individuals, and some individuals are, you know, being as careful as they can. One slip up, one little mistake, or you know, someone else stepping into a social circle, sort of disrupts their whole plan.

Jordan: Yeah, that’s a great point also. The thought of… Because I’ve even experienced that, since being on campus, not being stigmatized but almost having that like “I touched the door with someone else” and I kind of got this look of… [Gasps dramatically]. “You came so close to me, great.” And I thought, like, I hope people aren’t being shamed but I’ve seen some examples there though how some people have faced that shame and stigma, um been stigmatized that they tested positive. And that all of a sudden, even though it’s, as you said a lousy situation then to have to quarantine. When people have been reacted to in ways like “Yes, you need to stay away from me. Don’t come around me like, you need to be left alone.” And, you know, we’re doing that for the safety of them and for others but they’re still humans…

Dr. Guertler: Yes. You know, it really has to do with how we interact with that person, you know. Yeah, I understand that you can’t be around for 10 days and I know that’s lousy for you. I appreciate the fact that you’re doing that, you know, you just take that positive spin on it and you can make that person feel a little bit better about the lousy situation. 

Jordan: Yeah, so is there anything else? Well, of course there’s other things else with our health to be thinking of, but thinking on top of the current situation, knowing that other things that impact young people’s health and well-being are still going to continue. Are there other things that you also feel are really important that students should be mindful of during this time?

Dr. Guertler: Now, one thing that I want students to know that might help promote mask wearing is that it will also decrease the likelihood of them getting the common cold and the flu. It was interesting in the southern hemisphere-- the countries that typically see big flu spikes didn’t see them during COVID-19, and it’s most likely related to the physical distancing/the preventive measures that are in place for COVID-19... it’s going to decrease all types of respiratory illnesses. And we routinely see individuals with respiratory illnesses in the beginning of the first or second week of school because of the intermingling of folks that don’t know each other. It passes viruses along, so they can protect themselves in multiple ways, just by doing this mask wearing.

Dr. Guertler: You know, other than that, staying as active as possible. Getting outdoors is a great place. Risk is truly minimized in outdoor spaces. That doesn’t mean, you know, you can hang out in tight groups in the outdoors, but hanging out outdoors and spreading out just a little bit… essentially, moves your risk almost to zero. So, you know, doing… being wise about the choices that you make. You know, college... yeah, you’re here for an education, a book education, but there’s the social education that’s just as important, if not sometimes more important. You know those interactions with others and developing oneself. And so, you know, trying to maintain socialization as much as possible but with safety in mind is going to be important to everybody’s growth. 

Jordan: So, um, I want to just quickly kind of go back and talk about… since you mentioned you were a Duke yourself and you’re here again… what part of the Madison experience have you seen remain the same over the years? So, from when you were here as a Duke to current JMU Dukes. What just -- outside of COVID -- what part of the experience do you think remains the same? And then also given this generation, a different generation than yours and from mine, even, I can say that now, what strengths do you think that they have going for them in this time and this pandemic and time of so much uncertainty and anxiety?

Dr. Guertler: So the… I mentioned earlier that the atmosphere of JMU has remained the same. You know, the school population probably has tripled almost since the time I was here, so more people… But really with the same, I don’t know, attitudes… It’s friendly-- people do open doors for each other. It’s… you know, they’re not extremists, you know? I think they’re, in general, overall pretty accepting of individuals and kind of low-key looking out for each other. This generation, and I’m a few generations removed from this generation [Laughs.]... But the fact that they are here in the midst of a pandemic where none of us know where this is going, right? We don’t know what tomorrow holds, what next month… And they applied and they elected to come. They made the decision “I’m going to come,” so you know that tells me that they have the determination to make this work.

Dr. Guertler: I’m not sure that everybody understands that it’s in our individual power to do this. It’s, it seems so dramatic. I mean, you know, 23 million people in the world, going on 6 million people here in the United States. How can I, as an individual, make a difference? You can make a difference. And if you and the next person make a difference, as a community, we can make a difference for ourselves here on the JMU campus and in the JMU community. So, you know, I think people have that inside them, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. I know they have the hope that we’ll be here and that we will last a semester. It’s going to, you know, we can do it together and that’s what it’s going to take. 

Jordan: Thank you. Yeah. These last few weeks, I think talking to students, the few students I have talked to, and them telling me that they want to come back and they’re excited to come back has made me emotional. Just because, we’ve been here during the summer and, summer is already usually a pretty quiet time, but it was even more quiet-- I mean, it wasn’t slow, it’s definitely busy, but we’ve been missing the students. I think so much more than usual. And just to hear students, how many want to come back, I did-- I got emotional. Like, we want you here too. The people that work at JMU, we’re here because we want to be here. We work and we care for JMU’s students. We don’t want them to go home either. And you reminded me of a quote that I really liked that we use. Something else we do here in health promotion is we talk a lot about bystander intervention, right? It’s intervening if someone is doing something. In this case, you know, asking them to wear a mask. But the quote is: “No one has to do everything, but everyone has to do something.” You know, it’s just doing something as simple as wearing a mask or, you know, wash your hands. Staying socially distanced. Just, it’s reminding others , like, “it’s not that I don’t want to hug you right now. It’s just, we can’t. You know, like, we’ll hug you again next holiday or something”, yeah.

Dr. Guertler: You’re absolutely right. I like that quote. 

Jordan: Alright so, wrapping up. I just have a few more questions for you. If one major takeaway from this episode, what would it be for students and for our listeners.? What would, what’s the one thing you really want them to hear from this?

Dr. Guertler: That this is in our power, everyone in the JMU community, if we work together and we follow the preventive measures that are, have shown to be effective. That we can keep this virus suppressed. I strongly believe that. We will protect those on campus who are the more vulnerable population, which has been, you know, what should be one of our goals. Every one of us on campus should be desiring that outcome.

Jordan: Very well said.

Dr. Guertler: Just mask up, right? That- that’s your motto, it came from you? I like it.

Jordan: Yes, yes. Thank you, little humble brag. I’m not… I’m not advertising it but I’m happy to take credit for it. I was pretty proud of that. [Laughs]

Dr. Guertler: Yeah, just mask up.

Jordan: So, alright. The last few questions I have for you, again, just to get students to know you a little better. And these are just some, two personal questions. So the first one is: What advice would you give your undergrad self?

Dr. Guertler: So-so, for myself… The advice would be to listen, to listen to others and watch out for others, and to wear a mask. You know, I think I would have worn a mask had this happened 30-some years ago. But that’s the advice… and to stay optimistic. 

Jordan: Okay. And the other question I have for you is: Who would play you in a movie of your life?

Dr. Guertler: [Laughs.] Well I don’t know. I don’t watch… I don’t watch a lot of movies… Gee whiz. I’d say, uh, that’s a tough one Jordan!

Jordan: Would it be a comedian or would it be…?

Dr. Guertler: No, it would not be a comedian. It would have to be a serious actor. I do tend to come off on the serious side, so it would have to be somebody more serious. Um, I don’t know, maybe a little mix. Tommy Lee Jones. You know, he can be… He can be a little funny at times, but he can be kind of hard at times too. So, maybe Tommy Lee Jones. [Laughs.] People are going “Who the heck is that?”

Jordan: Yeah. [Laughs]. He was in Men in Black, right? 

Dr. Guertler: Yes, he was in Men in Black.

Jordan: That might… I think they know what that movie is at least. Well, the original ones, not the one with Chris Hemsworth that just came out.

Dr. Guertler: Gotta go back to Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. 

Jordan: Exactly, yeah, I can see that. [Laughs]

Jordan: Alright, well thank you so much Dr. Guertler for joining me here again, on our very first episode for this podcast. I want to thank you, our listeners, for tuning in for this again. Hopefully, you’ve got some great information from this episode. And check back next Wednesday for our episode on self-medication and self-care. And if you have any questions for us, you can find our email in the episode description or message on social media @JMUHealthCenter, we will get back to you. And so just remember: mask on, physical distance between you and your friends, and be Well Dukes.

HTH 100 passcode is "just mask up".