Covid-19 has changed everything. A case in point: In 1978, when Australian physician Helen Caldicott revived a moribund non-profit organization called Physicians for Social Responsibility, the group鈥檚 name had the ring of novelty. In 2020, by contrast, the idea of socially and politically engaged health care professionals is a given. Thrust into the media spotlight at a time when their knowledge and perspective is in great need, they have never been more visible. Natalie Stake-Doucet, BN鈥�14, MSc(A)鈥�16, Dr. Matthew Oughton, PGME鈥�06, and Dr. Ashleigh Tuite, MSc鈥�05, have been at the forefront of this development, and they all have their own tales to tell about it.
Asked if they have come to accept their in-demand media-spotlit activities as part and parcel of what they do, the three 不良研究所ians are in unanimous agreement.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important for people to hear people in my profession,鈥� said infectious disease epidemiologist Tuite, who currently works as a mathematical modeller at the University of Toronto. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I do it. People want information now, and I鈥檓 privileged to be in a position where I can help them navigate through the confusion and misinformation. If you鈥檙e a researcher and passionate about it, and if you want to influence policy and improve the health of the population, you need to be willing to break out of the academic bubble.鈥�
Oughton, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at 不良研究所 and attending physician and infectious disease specialist at the Jewish General Hospital, cited the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada鈥檚 CanMEDs 2015 framework.
鈥淥ne of the important roles specified there is that of communicator, and that applies not only to one鈥檚 patients and colleagues, but also to the public. So yes, I do think that this is an important role that physicians should be prepared to do, especially at a time when there is rapid release of new information, yet also a lot of uncertainty.鈥�
Stake-Doucet, an RN, president of the Quebec Nurses鈥� Association and current PhD candidate at Universit茅 de Montr茅al, relishes the increased opportunity she鈥檚 been granted to speak up for the frontline workers in her field.
鈥淭he goal for me is to try to encourage other nurses not to be afraid, and to normalize having nurses in political discussions,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are the biggest chunk of health care workers, after all. Far from trying to keep politics out of the conversation, I try to be as political as possible. Nursing doesn鈥檛 happen in a vacuum.鈥�
On the subject of politics, Oughton is in complete concurrence with Stake-Doucet:
鈥淸Politics] is unavoidable in all of this because there are bigger things at play. The shutting down of certain sectors of our economy, the restrictions on peoples鈥� activities鈥攖hese things come at a cost. Asking people to stay isolated is not an inconsequential decision.鈥�
It鈥檚 worth remembering that health care professionals are subject to the same self-consciousness as the rest of us. These are not people who grew up dreaming of being on TV, so being called upon to do so, repeatedly, entails its own set of insecurities.
When it comes to the finer points of self-presentation, Oughton is able to glean valuable advice from someone quite close by.
鈥淟et鈥檚 just say that I have a wonderful spouse who is much more attuned to appearances and fashion than I am,鈥� he said with a chuckle. 鈥淎lso, by necessity, because sometimes these things are done from home, I have to pay attention to the home environment. My wife and I have three children and two dogs. That can present some difficulty. I鈥檓 just thankful that the few times my children have appeared in the background, they鈥檝e been fully clothed and not just coming out of the bathtub.鈥�
鈥淏asically, I try to look clean,鈥� Stake-Doucet said. 鈥淚 try to have my home backdrop not be messy, but also not busy鈥攜ou don鈥檛 want people to be distracted by what鈥檚 behind you. On Zoom I might try to wear a t-shirt or button with a political message on it, but usually you鈥檙e framed above the shoulders, so that won鈥檛 always work.鈥�
鈥淚 cannot watch or listen to myself,鈥� said Tuite. 鈥淭he other day I heard my voice on the radio and had to leave the room. Being too smooth is certainly not my problem. As for visuals...well, I鈥檓 usually in a t-shirt, so that鈥檚 not a big consideration.鈥�
Via different paths, Tuite, Oughton and Stake-Doucet have all attained an impressive degree of ease and authority as de facto public figures.
鈥淏efore February I think I had spoken to a reporter once, ever,鈥� said Tuite. 鈥淭ypically I spend my days staring at a computer and crunching numbers. I tend to be happy letting other people speak, so this has been a strange time. And I like to think about what I say before I say it, so particularly the idea of doing something live, without having the opportunity to go back and refine and clarify what I鈥檝e said, is stressful.鈥�
Prior to the pandemic that has seen him called upon for tasks as long and prominent as a two-hour appearance on CBC Radio One's Cross Country Checkup, Oughton鈥檚 media exposure had been confined to a few local television spots on topics such as hand hygiene and seasonal influenza. 鈥淣ow, all of a sudden, boom,鈥� he said. 鈥�This.鈥�
Oughton ascribes his relative ease in his new role to a grounding in two of his teenage passions: debating and fencing. 鈥淭o me doing live interviews is akin to both those activities. You need to be thinking both of what you鈥檙e doing at the moment and several moves ahead. Especially doing a live spot, you have to be speaking but also thinking about where you鈥檙e taking the conversation.鈥�
Stake-Doucet was perhaps better equipped than most to hit the ground running, having long been an advocate for nurses and health care workers in general. She achieved an enviable visibility with a 2018 guest appearance on the extremely popular Quebec talk show Tout le monde en parle. Even so, she admits to never feeling completely comfortable in front of a camera or microphone.
鈥淎s nurses, we鈥檙e socialized into being self-effacing,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 really a feminist issue. It鈥檚 not obvious: no nursing prof is ever going to tell you 鈥楧on鈥檛 speak out publicly,鈥� but you copy behaviour when you鈥檙e a student, and there鈥檚 just not a lot of nursing representation in media. So I鈥檓 glad to see now鈥攁nd this is not just me鈥攖he image of a nurse in the media that鈥檚 not just smiling and nice, but actually using her clinical judgment and professional knowledge to try to enact change and even be a bit of a troublemaker.鈥�
For all three, the media settings in which they now find themselves, often under tight time constraints, entail ongoing adjustments in the pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness.
鈥淎 challenge we鈥檙e seeing repeatedly is that of clear messaging,鈥� Oughton said. 鈥淰ery often, especially when you鈥檙e describing a virus and an infection about which we don鈥檛 have complete information, the challenge is to give an answer that鈥檚 understandable to the lay audience, and it鈥檚 rarely a simple cut-and-dried yes or no. You have to find the important nuances that answer the question, and try to get across the current state of knowledge without drowning people in detail. But if you over-simplify you risk losing the subtleties that are the essence of understanding the research.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 an exercise in synthesizing,鈥� said Stake-Doucet of her approach. 鈥淭here are good interviews and bad interviews鈥擨鈥檓 still not an expert at it.鈥�
Experience has taught Stake-Doucet some lessons she is keen to impart on colleagues who might face similar media requests in the future:
鈥淭ry to be prepared, but not over-prepared. Journalists, especially when it鈥檚 live, are never going to ask exactly what you expect. Just be prepared in the sense of knowing a specific subject well, so that you鈥檙e comfortable no matter the question. And don鈥檛 be afraid, if a journalist goes a bit off the subject鈥攂ecause journalists are not health care professionals鈥攖o say, 鈥榃ell, that鈥檚 not my area, but I can tell you this instead.鈥�
Tuite frames the question in terms of self-expectation.
鈥淚 can be hard on myself if what I say doesn鈥檛 come out quite the way I wanted. But I think I鈥檓 learning to be a little more forgiving of myself, to accept that I鈥檓 not a professional in communication but that I can still help clear the fog without being perfect. Besides, being relatable is important, and so is humility. This is all trial and error.鈥�
On the question of essential media messaging鈥攖he elevator pitch, whether to fellow professionals, the public, or both鈥攔esponses were varied but consistent.
鈥淚鈥檇 say 鈥楤elieve that public health is working in the interests and for the health of the entire public,鈥� said Oughton. 鈥淲e do not have vested interests from pharmaceutical companies. What we want is to help get the public through this ongoing catastrophe in as safe a way as we can, with as little harm as we can, while understanding that, as far too often happens in life, there is no perfect path forward. We鈥檙e left with trying to choose the path of least harm.鈥�
Tuite offers advice that can apply both to the pundits and to those they address.
鈥淚t鈥檚 okay to not know the answer to things. It鈥檚 okay to be uncertain, to change your mind, to course-correct and admit it. We are all learning as we go through this.鈥�
Stake-Doucet, again, keeps the focus on those she represents.
鈥淣urses need to be part of every political discussion on health care policy, from basic administrative decisions on a unit all the way up to the Ministry of Health and the government as a whole. A broader array of nursing voices needs to be heard. And we should be allowed to be angry. We鈥檙e not here to keep up appearances. We鈥檙e here to care and heal.鈥�
Whatever the challenges, stresses, and inherent imperfections of the undertaking, no one expresses any doubt that taking a public stand in a time of crisis is worth doing. Stake-Doucet encapsulates that belief by quoting the late American poet and cancer memoirist Audre Lord.
鈥淪he said, 鈥榃hen we speak we are afraid [鈥�.] But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.鈥欌��
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