Contact: Richard P. Gulla
781-434-7101
rgulla@mms.org
Waltham, Mass. -- June 8 -- The experiences of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, H1N1 Bird Flu in 2009, Ebola in 2014, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and now the Zika virus in 2016 are the most recent examples of threats targeting the public health.
Groups such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization rush to address these threats, and the media are quick to label them “epidemics,” raising fears on the part of the public.
The June edition of Physician Focus with the Massachusetts Medical Society examines how these outbreaks sometimes create fear on the part of the public, but out of proportion to the actual risk of harm.
Guest is Steven C. Hatch, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center and Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease at UMass Medical School in Worcester. In 2014, Dr. Hatch spent four weeks in Liberia with the International Medical Corps treating patients stricken with Ebola and subsequently returned to that nation several times to treat patients. Hosting this edition is Bruce Karlin, M.D., a primary care physician in Worcester and Utilization Management Medical Director at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester.
Physician Focus is a noncommercial production of the Massachusetts Medical Society and Hopkinton (Mass.) Community Access Television, HCAM-TV. Now in its eleventh year, the monthly half-hour program brings viewers health and medical information on timely topics from physicians and other healthcare experts. Distributed as a public service, the program reaches more than 275 communities in Massachusetts each month through the courtesy of public access television stations. For details on the program, visit www.physicianfocus.org.
The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 25,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and NEJM Journal Watch alerts and publications covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country.
HCAM-TV was founded April 1, 2004 by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hopkinton as a nonprofit corporation to manage local access to cable broadcast facilities. For information on HCAM, visit http://www.hcam.tv
