Only 50% of infectious diseases fellowship positions are filled each year, a growing issue that can be attributed to the financial impact of working in a non-procedural specialty. In this episode, Buddy Creech, MD, FPIDS dives into the complex issue of health care finance and explores ways that infectious diseases physicians can showcase their value and increase their compensation with health policy experts Gabe Roberts, Founder and CEO of Roberts Consulting Group and former director of TennCare and Board of Directors for the National Association of Medicaid Directors, and Nancy-Ann DeParle, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for the Obama Administration and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform.

“Everything's negotiable in the locums world.” Locum tenens is a career path that is often discouraged for ID professionals. In this Let’s Talk ID episode with host Paul Sax, MD, FIDSA, locum tenens ID physician Allison Nazinitsky, MD shares how life in locum tenens provides better pay, work-life balance and a sense of appreciation. 

“We need to start dispelling the myth that you're not able to make money doing [what you love].” After matching into physical medicine and rehabilitation and spending a gap year as a hospitalist, Alice Han, MD decided to pursue a career in infectious diseases. In this episode with Dr. Paul Sax, Dr. Han shares the reason she switched specialties, what it’s like working in ID private practice and the key to having professional satisfaction in ID.

Twenty years ago, Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, FPIDS became a pediatric infectious diseases fellow under mega-mentor Kathryn Edwards, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS. In this episode, Dr. Creech is joined by his former mentor to discuss their story, the dynamics of a successful mentee and mentor relationship, and how to mentor trainees in the best way possible.

The lifting of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) at the federal level will have significant impact on clinical, public health and research in infectious diseases beyond. In this episode, director of health for the city of St. Louis Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, MD, MPH is joined by Allison Agwu, MD, ScM, FIDSA and Maximo Brito, MD, MPH, FIDSA to discuss the urgency for prioritizing health equity beyond the COVID-19 Emergency Order Conclusion. 

IDSA President Carlos del Rio MD, FIDSA, discusses the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) with White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha, MD, MPH. 

Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, FPIDS, sits down with guests William Schaffner, MD, FIDSA, and NBC News medical correspondent Erika Edwards to discuss how ID practitioners can be better communicators. 

The next time you take a careful travel history, think what it would be like to ask comedy writer Mike Reiss — he and his wife have been to more than a hundred countries, many of them far from the usual tourist routes. Paul Sax, MD, FIDSA, sits down with Reiss to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly. 

“If you have something to contribute, that contribution is going to be valued.” In 2019, Jasmine Marcelin, MD, FIDSA, became the youngest person to be elected to the IDSA Board of Directors. In this episode, Dr. Marcelin shares her journey, from experiencing “imposter syndrome,” balancing board work with a career and young children, and why age shouldn’t deter you from applying. 

Paul Sax, MD, FIDSA and clinical trialist extraordinaire David Boulware, MD, MPH, FIDSA discuss promising studies of interferon lambda, metformin, and ensitrelvir for COVID-19 -- and why none of them is currently in treatment guidelines.

*This episode was recorded before the Paxlovid EPIC-SR results were released in an FDA briefing.