COVID-19 case numbers are spiking again, the virus is changing, and yet the resources and systems to help clinicians serve their COVID patients are lagging. MCN is working to keep migrant clinicians updated. Over the past year, through both a COVID webinar series and a podcast series, MCN has hosted interviews and discussions with clinical experts, frontline providers, and social scientists to continue to offer the most up-to-date information, guidance, resources, and relatable case stories for identifying, treating, and managing COVID and long COVID among US-based immigrant, migrant, asylee, and limited English proficient (LEP) patients in the outpatient setting.

Supported through a project with Pfizer, MCN has offered six webinars and five podcast episodes covering critical strategies for clinicians providing COVID care for vulnerable communities:

	Psychosocial Support: MCN has responded to feedback on needs from communities suffering from the psychosocial impacts of COVID and long COVID on family dynamics, offering ways in which clinicians can prepare to address strains on family relationships and educate patients and their families on how ‘witnessing’ illness in their family member can impact them.
	COVID in Primary Care and Underserved Community Impacts: MCN took a step back and reviewed the evolution of COVID’s move from the emergency to primary care setting, and shared how clinicians can assist with the impacts the change might have on underserved communities, especially high-risk, vulnerable patients who may not have access to health care outside the outpatient setting.
	Updates on Treatment, Prevention & Beyond: With changes in administrative systems after the end of the Public Health Emergency, MCN has shared strategies for clinicians to navigate changes in vaccines, treatment, food subsidies, and insurance access, including the Health and Human Services Bridge Access Program for the uninsured.
	Best Practices: Beyond clinical strategies, MCN has also delved into what we can learn from failures and successes communities have encountered during the evolution of COVID, including how communities on the border have come together to support clinicians, and its national impacts on health care beyond COVID.
	Controlling Environmental Factors to Prevent COVID at Work: MCN trained clinicians on how clinicians can use industrial hygiene practices to prevent and control both COVID and other infectious diseases in workplaces and homes, and the economic advantages and disadvantages associated with the process.
	Comorbidities: Most recently, MCN hosted a webinar on the complexities of how comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, some cancers, asthma, and other conditions, can influence COVID outcomes, especially for low-income and low-resourced populations, and will publish a podcast episode on the topic soon. Strategies were shared for screening, prevention, and the prioritization of preventative measures, including vaccination and early treatment, and how they can impact health outcomes for members of special populations.

In the upcoming weeks and months MCN is excited to continue to share the latest updates and guidance on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of COVID, including interventions, health promotion, and protocols for improving the quality of COVID care for vulnerable populations.

On January 23rd at 10am PST/12pm CST/1pm EST, MCN plans to share updates on the JN.1 COVID variant, testing, masking, vaccines, antiviral treatments, and other aspects of COVID’s changing landscape. Register here to join the discussion!

MCN also plans to provide webinars and podcast episodes on COVID and children, including the importance of protecting children and recommended practices for finding pediatric vaccines. MCN plans to host a webinar with the support of the National Hispanic Medical Association, on COVID across the lifespan, and hopes to provide strategies for serving other special populations as well as culturally contextual patient education, later this year. 

Resources:

• Podcasts | Migrant Clinicians Network
• COVID-19 Resource Hub | Migrant Clinicians Network