Physician career change guide

Practicing disaster medicine

Name: Jason Persoff, MD, associate professor of medicine and assistant director of emergency preparedness at University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora

Education

Undergraduate: University of Colorado, Boulder

Medical School: University of Colorado, Denver

Residency: Mayo Clinic Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville

Persoff was storm chasing in Joplin, Missouri, when the city was destroyed. The tornado hit one of the two hospitals in the city. He ended up racing to the partially damaged hospital and worked there for about 14 hours. “I learned a lot about how, in a severe situation, certain aspects of emergency response are not as effective as they used to be,” he says. “The reality is that people are totally unprepared for disasters. That includes not just hospitals but individuals as well.”

What do you like about disaster medicine?

I love that research in this domain can only make things better. It’s a very positive experience because we are learning how to improve systems and response at times when people are their most fragile and need the most help. It’s an extremely gratifying area of study and work. The other part is it is underappreciated, how complex the systems are that step into place during disasters, so part of the interesting work is trying to get the cogs in the machine to work together.

What is the most challenging part of the role?

The worst part about disaster medicine is, for the most part, people don’t want to invest time or money in it. There is this conviction that disasters rarely occur, so preparation for disaster is kicking the can down the road. Trying to convince people of our value is very important. Our worth was suddenly realized when COVID happened.

How would a physician get into disaster medicine?

The easiest way is to get involved with your hospital’s emergency preparedness committee. It doesn’t matter what your specialty is; what you bring can be very helpful in preparations. The second is to complete a disaster medicine fellowship. There are also free courses online through FEMA that prepare people on how to respond in disasters and understand the National Disaster Medical System as well. Every little bit makes a difference. 

What advice would you give to physicians interested in disaster medicine?

I think the most important thing to know is you are needed now. Very often, there is nursing representation; however, physician representation is extraordinarily limited. Unfortunately, because of that, physicians are often left clueless during disasters. They think it’s all-hands-on-deck at a hospital when a disaster occurs, but that just increases the chaos. There instead needs to be subsequent shifts. 

The other thing is I think most of us who do disaster medicine feel it’s important to find your center. Physicians have stressful jobs, and when you factor disaster into the mix, emotions can run high. Finding a place where you can find your center is very important. For me, it’s being in touch with nature. Disaster medicine can be difficult, but it is also extraordinarily rewarding to help communities recover from a disaster. •