I became famous in January- who knew??
It all began by me posting this picture on Facebook:
It was taken while my team was out on a whirlwind trip to 3 villages in one day to vaccinate community members with the COVID-19 vaccine. It was a great picture and I wanted to share it.
I'm part of a group on Facebook for Woman Physicians in Alaska. One of the members is Dr. Anne Zink, the Chief Medical Officer of the state of Alaska. She asked if she could share the picture on her page. That was seen by a reporter for NPR radio who asked her to ask me if I'd be willing to do a radio interview. I said sure, and a week or so later, I was featured on NPR.
That was fun, I didn't think much of it.
But then a reporter from ABC heard the NPR story and reached out to me. We chatted for a bit and a day or so later, she said her producer wanted my whole team to go live on GMA (Good Morning America) that Friday. With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, it would be by Zoom rather than us traveling to NYC. But still, wowzah. I reached out to my other team members, they were all on board and we said yes. A day or so later, I found out Maniilaq (my work) needed to be involved (why that never occurred to me, I don't know). Thankfully, they said OK and we went live at 3am Alaska Time on GMA. Here's the clip:
That was a fun experience. We all met by Zoom with the producers the day before to talk about what to expect, we were told what questions would be asked, in what order, etc. I happened to be in Fairbanks visiting a friend during the actual interview, so that made having reliable internet a lot easier. But making sure I had proper lighting, sound, etc was tricky since I couldn't do a check until I got there. My colleagues that were also featured were all in Kotzebue and managed to get their checks with the producers done a day before so we could all be on together. I was really glad it wasn't just me and that we got to tell at least some of our story, convey the craziness of practicing medicine in the arctic and all that that entails.
The following days and weeks were even crazier. We were all bombarded with requests for additional press interviews, especially myself and our pharmacist Meredith. I wasn't particularly interested in being on TV again, so tried finding others who would be willing as I thought it would be nice to feature Maniilaq and the work being done here. But alas, no-one else stepped up. All reporters got directed to our Public Communications Coordinator and a few managed to squeak by for an interview. But most were denied. Even really cool requests like the BBC and The Washington Post. I had to let it go and realize that I am not in charge.
One interview I did on my own was for my Alma Mater, St. Olaf College. I figured it would just be seen by my fellow alumni, no need to get permission. Here's a link to that:
https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/alumna-cares-for-rural-patients-in-the-arctic
So there you have it. Famous. The fame has come and gone, I'm back to being a regular old primary care physician now. But it was a fun month or two of feeling extra special. Kinda a big deal ;)
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