Thread by @CaldwellHilary

On this day 2 years ago, my supervisor called me to come in for my first shift on the ⁦@cityofhamilton⁩ COVID-19 hotline… a 🧵

25 Days on the COVID-19 Hotline: Reflections on the development of core competencies from a Health System Impact Fellow ojs.library.dal.ca/hpj/article/vi…

I was doing a fellowship at Public Health and working on projects about physical activity and active transportation.

In the weeks before I started on the hotline, I watched my colleagues get called to COVID-19 work. We all thought it was going to be ‘a few weeks long’

I didn’t know much about COVID-19 or infectious diseases or pandemics— it’s not something you learn about in Kinesiology programs.

My colleagues and team were AMAZING and I learned so much about public health in those few weeks on the hotline.

Public health messaging and processes were changing so quickly. We all still worked in the office— our desks were distanced, but we didn’t wear masks.

I talked to folks on the hotline all day and went home to read and learn about COVID-19.

It was wild.

I loved it.

I was switched to a different COVID-19 role after a few weeks and stayed in that role until my fellowship ended 6 months later.

My fellowship turned out very different than planned, but I gained public health experience I didn’t know I wanted.

Public Health units/ dept are doing incredible work—2 year in & many folks are still doing pandemic work. These teams are incredible 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻