Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 13 No. 1 | August 2020

inside.hokiesports.com 35 “Virginia Tech and VCOM, their whole existence is built upon serving communities in need. When you approach life in a manner of service, you can’t back away from the challenges that we’re facing through all this.” TAKING ON CHALLENGES— BOTH SEEN AND UNFORESEEN Each of the Virginia Tech “contingent” interviewed for this story told of the challenges that they faced in great detail—and nearly all of those were different. Some found themselves highly exposed to the disease, while others dealt with the secondary effects of it. Dr. Chris Diaz, a former Virginia Tech wrestler who graduated from the university in 2012 and from VCOM in 2017, has spent the past three years working as a resident at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) in Charlotte, North Carolina—one of the largest hospitals in the state. Diaz specializes in internal medicine in which he diagnoses and treats internal diseases and illnesses, mostly in adults. Diaz said he wasn’t quite on the front line of the pandemic, but he wasn’t far from it. His risk only increased when smaller, outlying hospitals and medical centers in southwestern North Carolina started sending COVID-19 patients to CMC, which possesses more resources and staff to treat those with the disease. CMC actually created a separate intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients. “At the end of March is when I first got pulled in,” Diaz said. “They were trying to hold off on bringing people into the hospital, so that we didn’t have as much exposure, and I didn’t have any direct contact at first. But later on, I was moved to the ICU [intensive care unit], and more specifically, the cardiac ICU. They usually try to keep the COVID patients away from that area because they’re sicker in general and potentially immune-compromised if they’re in line for a heart transplant. “In general, they’ve been able to keep me away from the COVID patients, but still being in a hospital, you’re around others that are dealing with the coronavirus patients. Just being in a hospital, you’re more exposed. I think I’ve had less direct exposure, but still indirectly just being in the hospital.” Like any doctor, Diaz worries about exposing his family to the disease—and in particular, his 10-month-old daughter. In looking at the data, children and young people appear to be the least at risk, which eases the minds of doctors with younger children. Yet no doctor wants to put his or her family at risk, especially those with infants. “Overall, we’ve done, at least within our system, a good job of isolating people that don’t need to be exposed, and I’ve felt pretty secure where I’m at,” Diaz said. “I can only control so much, and if I was to be around it, there is a sense of security in knowing that there is only so much I can control in the matter. All I can do are the precautions that are set in place.” For Clickett and King, the biggest impact of COVID-19 has been in the volume of their caseloads and how they go about treating patients. The pandemic forced the cancelations of most elective surgeries to preserve resources—namely, personal protective equipment (PPE), which consists of clothing, helmets, goggles, masks, and other garments designed to protect caregivers from infection. Thus, most hospitals and practices only permitted emergency surgeries. Also, most hospitals and practices canceled or curtailed any elective services—regular appointments, checkups, etc. Those protocols have been relaxed somewhat, but doctors at that time refused to ignore their patients, coming up with creative ways to provide services. Dr. Ashleigh Keats Clickett desperately hoped for the best when, a couple of months ago, one of her patients—a young woman who was eight months pregnant—took a test for the COVID-19 disease. An obstetrician and gynecologist in Huntington, West Virginia, the former Virginia Tech track and field athlete certainly understood the reality of today’s pandemic. The disease spreads quickly, shows no mercy to the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions, and can cause significant problems among certain young people. Biomedical researchers and others in the medical profession continue a relentless pursuit of a cure or a vaccine. Unfortunately, the young woman tested positive for the virus—she worked at a nursing home where there was an outbreak. But the story ended positively, as she gave birth to a healthy daughter, and everyone appears to be doing well, though not before creating weeks of angst for Clickett. “She ended up having it [COVID-19], but ended up doing fine,” Clickett said. “It was no problem. She really didn’t have many symptoms. So it’s definitely been a learning curve as far as how this virus acts, what patients get sick from it, what don’t, how many people are getting it — it’s been all new. “She had the baby, and everything turned out great. But it’s been a little bit scary and a little bit eye-opening as far as how scary things can get — and we have no way to control it, other than the social distancing and keeping our hands clean and that sort of thing. It makes you wonder if it could ever get worse, or if something worse than this could come up. What would we do?” These are the types of questions that all doctors continue to ask themselves. Fortunately, those educated at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine—VCOM, for short—in Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center feel equipped, and more importantly, motivated to face such challenges. That contingent includes 25 former Virginia Tech student-athletes, cheerleaders, and trainers who matriculated to VCOM after receiving their undergraduate degrees from Virginia Tech and either have graduated or are in the process of graduating from VCOM. VCOM and Virginia Tech share in a public-private venture, pooling resources for research and the educating of future doctors—many of whom go on to practice in rural or underserved areas. For example, Clickett works at a practice in Huntington, a town of less than 50,000 people. Dr. Scott King, a former football player, spent the past five years in Charleston, West Virginia working a residency in urology at Charleston Area Medical Center before completing that residency this summer and joining a practice in Okatie, South Carolina near Hilton Head. Dr. Spencer Harris, a former baseball player, practices family medicine in his hometown of Louisa, Kentucky—a town of 2,500 people not far from Huntington. Practicing in these types of underserved areas presents challenges in and of themselves. A COVID-19 pandemic only adds to it. Not that this group shies away from such tasks, however. “The heart and the motive behind why people get into medicine and nursing and other ancillary services is still good and true,” King said. “So this is just an opportunity for trial by fire in terms of why you do this. It brings to the forefront of our minds to sacrifice to help someone … It reminds you that this is a job, and you’re caring for sick individuals and this is a scary situation, but it’s what we decided to do. Continued on page 36 Former lacrosse player Tara Feehan is attending VCOM and pursuing a medical degree for a future career as an OB-GYN. (Note: photo taken before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.) IHS extra