During my residency I got to spend a month on a public health rotation. And I loved every minute of it.
I went into family medicine because I like thinking about systems, not just individuals. Nobody gets sick alone. Diseases cluster. Conditions follow patterns. There are reasons why certain things show up in certain communities at certain times. And figuring that out is a public health problem.
But the thing I remember most from that month wasn't the epidemiology or the data. It was the day I spent with their media specialist learning how to talk to reporters.
She taught me something called a SOCO. Single Overriding Communication Objective. One message. Everything you say sticks to your one important goal for that conversation. No matter what the reporter asks, you answer with your SOCO.
Because the news will clip whatever they want from your interview, and if you say anything about the rat, that's the clip that runs.
Let me tell you about the rat.
The month I was there was when they were running flu shot clinics all over the city. The message was clear: get your flu shot. Important. Potentially life-saving. But not exactly the headline to make you stop and notice.
But also that month? Someone found a rat in the chili at Wendy's.
And if you're a reporter choosing between those two stories, you are not choosing the flu shot clinic.
The media specialist acted out how the interview went.
The reporter kept asking about the rat. The doctor never once said the words rat, chili, or Wendy's — not one time — because any of those words could end up in a clip. Instead, every single answer came back to the same place: the health department is here to keep people safe, which is why it's so important to get your flu shot this season.
The reporter kept asking. The doctor kept to the SOCO. And the clip that ran was about the flu shot clinic.
And I have used that skill every single day since.
When someone is upset and pushing back, the instinct is to respond to what they're saying. But if you know what your goal is before you walk in, you don't have to. You just keep coming back to it. Calmly. Every time.
I learned that in a health department conference room because of a rat in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Public health is full of surprises.
Together with you on this journey, ​Dr. Robin
Roots & Suffixes:
epi–
Even doctors come across words they’ve never seen before. Learning roots and suffixes helps you guess smart—so unfamiliar words start to make more sense!
This week’s root is epi–, which means upon, among, or over a population.
You’ll see it in words like:
epidemic: a disease spreading rapidly among many people at once
epidemiology: the study of how diseases move through populations and why
epidermis: the outer layer of skin, sitting "upon" the layers below
What I'm Reading
This week's book is Togo by Robert J. Blake.
Many people know about Balto, one of the sled dogs to participate in the 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska. This was a desperate race to deliver diphtheria medicine to a city of sick children before it was too late. But Togo was the sled dog who ran the longest and most dangerous leg. Balto got the statue. Togo got overlooked for decades.
Usually I recommend chapter books because of the age of our students but this picture book is beautiful, slightly bittersweet, and worth reading at any age.
It's a gorgeous read for students interested in dogs, public health history, infectious disease, and the kind of quiet heroism that doesn't always make the headline.
Public health workers protect entire communities, not just individual patients. They track how diseases spread, investigate outbreaks, run vaccination programs, and make sure the systems that keep people healthy are actually working.
When public health is doing its job well, most people never think about it. Clean water comes out of the tap. Restaurants pass inspection. People stay safe from scary infections. None of it feels dramatic because none of it became a crisis.
If you were a public health worker, would you rather investigate a disease outbreak to figure out where it started and how to stop it, or design programs that prevent people from getting sick in the first place? Why?
Do you have a question about a lesson you're doing? You can write in and ask Dr. Robin!
Question:
Why do we need a new flu shot every year when other vaccines last forever?
Answer from Dr. Robin:
Because the flu virus is always changing.
Most vaccines protect you against viruses that don't change much. The measles virus today looks basically the same as it did decades ago, so the vaccine you got when you were a little kid still works.
But the flu virus mutates constantly. Every year it shows up slightly different, which means last year's vaccine may not match this year's version. So scientists track which strains are spreading around the world and make their best, most educated guess about which ones will hit hardest and then reformulate the vaccine every single year. And even when they don't get it exactly right, they get close enough that vaccinated people who do get the flu are much less likely to end up in the hospital or worse.
It's one of the most complicated things public health teams do annually. And one of the most important.
You can find more about how vaccines work in the Immunology module in LifePath: Physiology or MedPath!
P.S. Have a question from your lesson or something you’ve always wondered about medicine? Hit reply and ask me! Your question might be featured in a future Ask Dr. Robin.
That's all for this week! Happy Learning!
Questions?
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