CIDRAP and the Osterholm Weekly Podcast

Both my husband and I were in the health care field.  He was a general surgeon and I was a registered nurse. My experience was more in administration and operations; his was actually saving people’s lives. So when Covid came along we tried to be logical about life in general. One of the voices we appreciated hearing from was Dr. Michael Osterholm from the University of Minnesota. He was one of the few people who “told it like it is” and it usually wasn’t something you wanted to hear. Since we hadn’t heard from him for a while, I googled him and found the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy website. Since then we have been listening to his weekly podcasts. We find them interesting and they keep us up to date on the state of things. We also found out more about Dr. Osterholm. He looks quite stern on TV, but always had a sly smile on his face. At the end of each podcast, he talks about a pleasant place, and then selects lyrics from a song that represents how he is feeling. Finally he always reminds everyone to “be kind.” Usually my husband and I shed a tear at the conclusion - probably because life has changed for all of us and this is another reminder. But we are lucky to have a Dr. Osterholm out there to keep us in the know. It’s too bad not everyone takes the time to hear what he has to say.