The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery in recent weeks have exposed deep wounds inflicted by the nation’s long legacy of racism. They have also triggered protests across the country against police brutality and long-standing policies and attitudes that have marginalized Black and other communities of color. The AAMC invited 13 leaders and learners in academic medicine to share their thoughts on the events of the past week, the complicity of medicine in perpetuating inequities, and the role of students, physicians, and academic medical institutions in helping to heal the nation. Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson, also is a member of the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities and former chair of the AAMC Board of Directors. “Here's an astonishing statistic. A Black man today has a 1 in 1,000 chance of being killed by law enforcement. That’s 10,000 out of 10 million. The reason I use 10 million is that's the population of Michigan. Michigan had a little over 5,000 deaths from COVID-19, and it has been one of the hardest hit states during the pandemic. But that's still only half the number of Black boys who will die if nothing is done to address this issue of police brutality against Black men. To be honest, as a young man, I probably had a bit of a chip on my shoulder, and any Black man my age has had numerous encounters with law enforcement. So, the fact that I'm here now, I feel like I'm a survivor, because these encounters definitely could have gone in a different direction. [At Wayne State], we just created a National De-escalation Training Center for law enforcement. When the Dallas Police Department, for example, did de-escalation training, they had an 18% decrease in excessive use of force in one year and an 80% decrease over seven years, so that’s hugely positive. I've been looking at these pictures of these protests, and in some cities, there are more White people protesting than Black. This hit a nerve with all kinds of people. They are out there saying they don't want this kind of “justice” anymore, they really want to see a change in this country. That gives me a lot of hope.

President M. Roy Wilson was a guest on The Glenn Beck program, a nationally syndicated talk show that is carried on more than 500 radio stations. Wilson spoke with host Glenn Beck about the National De-escalation Training Center which was established on campus earlier this year. Click :”Best of The Program | Guests: Larry Elder, M. Roy Wilson, & Lara Logan | 6/3/20”

The nationwide US protests for racial justice are giving Joe Biden, sidelined for over two months by the coronavirus pandemic, the opportunity to reclaim the spotlight and display a contrasting leadership style to that of his November election opponent President Donald Trump. Jeffrey Grynaviski, a political science professor at Wayne State University, said the election is likely to be a "turnout battle" – decided on which party can mobilize more voters. Grynaviski noted that African-Americans turned out in much smaller numbers for Hillary Clinton in 2016 than they did for Obama, and the question is whether they will go to the polls for Biden. "My inclination is to say that Donald Trump's rhetoric over the last week is probably going to promote black support for Biden," he said, although his history with the crime bill works against him. 

The novel coronavirus’ grip on Michigan has loosened in recent weeks amid a steady decline in the daily rate of new confirmed infections. On Tuesday, Michigan recorded just 199 new cases. But as front-line workers emerge from months of warlike chaos in their workplaces, mental health experts are already noticing a massive surge in mental health needs among a traumatized workforce. After Wayne State University’s School of Social Work and College of Nursing launched a mental health hotline for traumatized doctors, nurses, and other first responders in the early days of Michigan’s COVID-19 experience, a common theme emerged in the calls, said Suzanne Brown, an associate professor in social work at the school: Front-line workers are suspended in a state of stress that is both “acute and chronic.” Hospital staff and first responders are used to dealing with crises. But typically, they address the immediate need — an emergency surgery, a horrific accident scene — and move on to a new task. But with COVID-19, Brown said, the trauma lingers along with the pandemic. “That sense of not knowing when it’s going to end leaves very little room for people to recover,” she said.

The desperately ill patients who deluged the emergency room at Detroit Medical Center in March and April exhibited the telltale symptoms of the coronavirus: high fevers and infection-riddled lungs that left them gasping for air. With few treatment options, doctors turned to a familiar intervention: broad-spectrum antibiotics, the shot-in-the-dark medications often used against bacterial infections that cannot be immediately identified. They knew antibiotics are not effective against viruses, but they were desperate, and they feared the patients could be vulnerable to life-threatening secondary bacterial infections as well. “During the peak surge, our antibiotic use was off the charts,” said Dr. Teena Chopra, the hospital’s director of epidemiology and antibiotic stewardship, who estimated that more than 80 percent of arriving patients were given antimicrobial drugs. “At one point, we were afraid we would run out.” Chopra and other doctors across the country who liberally dispensed antibiotics in the early weeks of the pandemic said they soon realized their mistake. “Many physicians were inappropriately giving antibiotics because, honestly, they had limited choices,” she said. Chopra estimated that up to a third of coronavirus patients who died at the hospital were killed by opportunistic pathogens like C. difficile, a pernicious infection that causes uncontrolled diarrhea and is increasingly resistant to antibiotics. That figure, she said, was quite likely heightened by the poor underlying health of patients who also had diabetes or hypertension or were obese. “Even before Covid hit, our population in Detroit was very vulnerable to drug-resistant infections,” said Chopra, a professor of infectious diseases at Wayne State University.

The novel coronavirus pandemic – and subsequent stay-at-home orders — have taught Michiganders how to interact in different ways. For many, the recent protests have only added to anxiety and increased social isolation. To help residents improve their mental health, Wayne State University is offering free online counseling sessions with psychology and counseling students. Lauren Mangus, professor of psychology, oversees the program. She says the world has changed and it can be difficult to adapt to a new way of living. “Life as it once was, it’s completely changed for so many of us. Not to mention the emotional psychological bandwidth that’s being taxed for many of us right now.” On dealing with grief when gatherings were limited: “Grief is really complex. It’s really difficult because it’s a very personalized, individualized process. But it is never completely finalized. But at the same time when we have different ways to celebrate life, and celebrate loved ones, and to get that support can really help us through the grieving process. So that is really complicated.

Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson spoke with WJR host Paul W. Smith about the establishment of the National De-escalation Training Center on campus.

Wayne State University announced the creation of a National De-escalation Training Center. The headquarters will be on its campus. The Wayne State police department says its officers are already being trained in de-escalation methods. Tony Holt, chief of police for Wayne State University,  says the de-escalation training is different from a one-size-fits-all approach to de-escalation training. “You want to let the person know, now I understand what kind of promise you have, and you can see, individually, what this person is going through, and to help you understand what those next steps are to take,” he says. Holt says officers are trained to break people down into 16 main personality types, each having their own subgroups. Officers are trained to recognize these personality types based on behavior, and can more effectively address the problem. He says it won’t be easy for officers to earn community trust, something he says is understandable since people are rightfully upset about police brutality. “And I think the timing is good because it’s going to cause you to work extra hard to get that buy-in. And this is not an overnight, you’re not going to build trust overnight. The community and the citizens want to see this in action,” says Holt.

Arash Javanbakht, associate professor of psychiatry, updated a Jan. 11, 2020 article he wrote for The Conversation about how the human brain can be  manipulated to tribalism during the politics of fear and racism. “Tribalism has become a signature of America within and without since the election of President Trump. The nation has parted ways with international allies, left the rest of the world in their effort to fight the climate change, and most recently the pandemic, by leaving the World Health Organization. Even the pandemic was not a serious issue of importance to our leaders. We did not care much about what was happening in the rest of the world, as opposed to the time of previous pandemics when we were on the ground in those countries helping block the progress so long as it was China’s or the European Union’s problem. This marks drastic change from previous U.S. altruistic attitude, including during the World War II.” Javanbakht continued: “The irony of evolution is that while those attached to tribal ideologies of racism and nationalism perceive themselves as superior to others, in reality they are acting on a more primitive, less evolved and more animal level.”

John Mogk, professor of law specializing in urban law and policy, wrote an opinion piece about structural racism. “The wanton killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the civil disturbances following were a predictable repetition of Detroit's rebellion in 1967 when the largest civil disturbance in American history was triggered by the abuse of African Americans by a police force that mostly was all-white. The Michigan National Guard and 82nd and 101st  Airborne Divisions of the U.S. Army were required to regain control of the city. Forty-three people died and hundreds of millions in today's dollars in property damages was caused  Notwithstanding the magnitude of the rebellion, the abject discrimination revealed a need for federal intervention as the country failed to learn a lesson. The root of the problem then, as it is now, is structural racism, and white police officer abuse of African Americans is merely one stark manifestation of it. Structural racism has its origin in slavery and fosters public policies, institutional practices and cultural representations that work to reinforce racial inequality for African Americans. Too many white police officers view African Americans with suspicion, interpret their actions as threatening and are quick to disregard their human rights.”

The Wayne State Library System is launching a virtual series to teach people about the value of Census data. “A lot of people know that they can take the Census,” says Meghan Courtney, outreach archivist at the Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs. “But we want to take it a step further and let people know that there are many ways that this data is actually useful for them in their lives.” The free series kicks off on Zoom on Wednesday June 3 at 4 p.m. with a talk called “Why the Census?” Librarians will explain how the Census impacts public funding and show attendees how they can access Census data. The second talk in the series, “Mapping and the Census,” is happening Friday, June 17 at 10 a.m. All sessions will be recorded for people who can’t attend and want to view at a later date. “Getting the Census done is a community effort,” says Courtney. “And it’s something that will affect not only Wayne State’s campus area but the whole region in a huge way.”

As COVID-19  takes its toll on our region and causes more damage than any other crisis in 100 years, young adults are being impacted as their families, communities, schools and the potential job market have all changed overnight. Four impressive young people, including Wayne State University student Anna Cloutier, who is planning a career in communications, appeared on Michigan Matters to talk about the crisis and how it has impacted them and their generation.

Newly minted doctors taking oaths over Zoom. College presidents giving speeches from home. Students creating entire commencements inside computer games. Graduation has taken on a new form during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gone, for now, are stadiums filled with cheers, instead replaced with teleconferences and smaller tributes to the class of 2020. Some schools have managed to hold in-person ceremonies, with students spaced six feet apart or staying in their cars. Yet most colleges have had to decide whether to reschedule ceremonies, conduct them virtually, or do both. Similarly strong interest in Wayne State University's virtual graduation offerings surprised Carolyn Berry, its associate vice president of marketing. The public institution, in Michigan, created a short video congratulating students that its schools and colleges could add onto with their own presentations. A 16-minute video of Wayne State's nursing convocation — which graduated about 130 students — got more than 1,000 views. All told, the videos have received more than 8,000 views, according to university data. Wayne State's videos featured pre-recorded speeches from administrators and also included a tribute to three students who were awarded posthumous degrees, including sociology student Darrin Adams, who died of COVID-19 in April. Despite

If you’ve ventured out into the world lately, you might be noticing a troubling trend — retail workers not wearing masks. This practice might make you uncomfortable as a customer, but is it illegal? And what’s required of local businesses as Michigan’s economy reopens anyway? Beyond what’s written in the law and the guidance, there’s also what’s best for business. “People really have to exercise a good deal of common sense, stay informed, and make things available to their employees, particularly if they asked to be protected and to wear a face mask,” says Marick Masters, a business professor and interim chair of the Department of Finance at Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business. “If you have the potential to interact with a customer, you are probably best inclined to wear a face mask. I think that trust is absolutely critical, particularly if you’re trying to restart your business and want people to feel comfortable coming back in,” Masters says. ”There are going to be people that are going to be hesitant to come back in if word-of-mouth comes out that people don’t have face masks or they seem casual about it. I think that you are better off from both a legal standpoint and a trust standpoint, and going the extra mile and trying to reassure people, that you’re doing everything humanly possible to protect the safety of your employees and your customers.” 

A doctor at Detroit’s Wayne State University School of Medicine has published new findings of a trend in older patients who are severely ill with COVID-19 and also test positive for Clostridioides difficile — a bacteria sometimes referred to C. diff or CDI. The CDI bacteria causes life-threatening diarrhea and is usually a side effect of taking antibiotics, according to the CDC. Wayne State’s observations offer the inaugural CDC journal report of CDI infections in COVID-19 patients. “This is the first report highlighting COVID-19 patients who presented with diarrhea and were found to have both C. diff and diarrhea as a co-infection,” says Dr. Teena Chopra, who is also a professor of infectious diseases at the WSU School of Medicine and corporate medical director of infection prevention hospital epidemiology and antibiotic stewardship at WSU and the Detroit Medical Center. “Most of these patients were very sick and had a higher mortality. COVID-19 can present as diarrhea, and a lot of these patients are getting unnecessary antibiotics. We always think of C. diff when we have patients who have diarrhea, and now we have to think of COVID-19 in these patients, too.”

The Wayne State University Campus Health Center (CHC) has started a “Health Programming Gone Virtual” initiative to create new ways to reach the WSU community. Instead of attending wellness events on campus, Wayne State students, faculty, and staff can access health resources and information from the comfort of their homes. “While we miss having the face-to-face engagement with students and our WSU community, we are making our programming available online and in different formats to best serve the changing needs of our campus,” says Erika Blaskay, community outreach nurse at WSU. Currently, all health care resources are available via PowerPoint presentation and handouts on CHC’s Health Programming webpage. Some programs now feature recorded webinars to provide in-depth learning about these important health topics. CHC also launched an “Ask-an-Expert” engagement form that allows the Wayne State community to ask specific questions anonymously. A qualified health care provider will respond on CHC’s social media platforms the Wednesday following the form’s submission. The goal is to create a fun way to engage with each other and the CHC in a virtual environment, but Blaskay says it is important to remember that these tools are meant to help guide conversations with health care providers, not replace them.

Michigan colleges and universities are preparing numerous scenarios to educate students in the fall during a time of unpredictability. There's limited testing as well as no vaccine for the coronavirus. The planning comes as higher education institutions also are grappling with gaping holes in their budgets as a result of a slowing economy. Already, some at universities have lost their jobs. It also comes as opinion differs as to how colleges should continue in their missions: face-to-face with safety measures or online courses only? At Wayne State University, the campus might look more different. Two WSU students succumbed to the novel coronavirus and the campus is located in Detroit, the state's epicenter for the virus. Though a final decision hasn't been made, WSU President M. Roy Wilson recently said he didn't know how the campus could open in the fall, though it is preparing for all scenarios. Wilson noted last week during a virtual town hall meeting that there is still a lot of time before the fall semester begins. "We don't have all the answers to that yet," Wilson said. "When you really think about it, that's three months away. I always try to remind people that three months ago, it was a very different situation here." A lot can change in three months, Wilson said. "We really want to be guided by the science, guided by the public health realities at that time," he said.

As colleges try to plan their fall operations and shape their classes, they face a big question that will largely be answered by forces outside their control: If they do resume in-person classes, will international students be able to join them? The global pandemic is causing widespread uncertainty: routine visa processing is suspended at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. International travel restrictions are in place in many countries. Commercial flight options are limited at best. College administrators say they have little choice but to plan for sizable declines in international students and the tuition revenue they bring. “It’s going to be predicated on two things -- first what we do here on campus, face-to-face versus remote and online, but also the more important part is what’s happening outside of the U.S. with consulates reopening and students being able to get access to visa appointments and being able to make it to the U.S. once things open up,” said Ahmad M. Ezzeddine, associate vice president for educational outreach and international programs and senior associate to the president for special initiatives at Wayne State University. “From everything that we’re seeing, the likelihood of having new international students physically here in August and September, I don’t see how that is possible.”

The Mental Health and Wellness Clinic, a graduate student training clinic in the College of Education at Wayne State University, is offering free counseling through your computer or phone. The program with 50 clinicians is offering school and community counseling, art therapy, outreach and support and an array of therapeutic services.

Wayne State University officials said Thursday they are deep into planning for reopening the campus, possibly when a state of emergency order ends May 28, and with medical, public health advice and government guidelines in mind. The officials said the situation is subject to change, and they are remaining vigilant and active. They'll follow the governor's lead: If the state of emergency declared by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ends May 28, the campus will reopen, officials said. Some general guidelines are already clear, President M. Roy Wilson said during a video conference viewed and heard by a few thousand people. People will be asked to continue to work from home, if they can, Wilson said. Remaining to oneself and at a safe distance will continue as primary concerns. “We have an open campus,” he said. “It's very important that we make sure that everybody follows the guidelines to protect everyone else. “It's not just a nuisance. This is, you know, peoples’ lives at stake.”