Lucy Horton '97
How do you train for a global pandemic? It’s a nightmarish scenario–a relentless cycle of seriously ill patients create an unmatched sense of urgency. As an Infectious Disease Specialist at UC San Diego, Lucy’s deep knowledge of virology and its impact on human life launched her to the frontlines of a global health crisis. And, in many ways, Lucy has spent her entire career preparing for this moment.
Before Covid-19 reached San Diego, Lucy’s practice in infectious disease included serving as Director of the UCSD Asylum-Seekers Health Program. She worked in temporary shelters and managed health screenings and medical care for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Even as a human biology major at Stanford University, and later a medical student at Tufts Medical School, she was drawn to the “interplay between the people, the pathogens, and the environment.” She moved through her residency at Mount Sinai with an awareness of what she was giving up (especially in her early twenties); she replaced family celebrations and travel with hours of grunt work, training, and studying. Mastering the science, however, was only part of her training. Developing a sensitivity to the patient experience, and understanding the emotional toll that comes with being in a hospital, is what would make Lucy a great doctor, and further, an excellent resource for the Covid pandemic.
Back
At UC San Diego, Lucy’s role as an Infectious Disease Specialist was already dynamic and interdisciplinary. But, when Covid arrived in San Diego, the ICU immediately tapped Lucy for treatment options. Lucy scrambled for emergency authorization of Remdesivir, an antiviral medication–realizing that her role at the hospital, and her expertise in infectious diseases, would catapult her to the frontlines of the pandemic.
In the coming months, Lucy’s entire life was Covid–she became the medical director of contact tracing at UC San Diego Health, and simultaneously provided direct care for Covid patients both in the hospital and through a newly-formed Covid-19 Telemedicine Clinic, which offers video visits and telephone consults for patients. Lucy launched the clinic with three other infectious disease physicians. Lucy recalls that telemedicine, which was years in the making, “hit prime time overnight.” Suddenly, telemedicine was managing the bulk of Covid patients referred by primary care doctors or triage teams that had patients’ positive results. Though some online patients had mild symptoms, many were at higher risk and full of fear.
Lucy squeezed her telemedicine visits in between rounds at the hospital–she treated in-person patients during the day and took video calls in the evenings and on weekends. As PPE and mask protocol shifted week to week and treatment practices remained inconsistent, fear mounted in the hospital. Lucy felt that knowledge of Covid was evolving, but not quite fast enough. Lucy spoke to the “sense of paranoia” among her colleagues–no one knew how Covid was spreading, if they could contract it on surfaces, or which masks were effective.
At the end of December 2020, when many families weighed the risk of reuniting for the holidays, California was struck by its most intense wave of infections yet. UC San Diego was hit with an influx of patients, and Lucy remembers the “sheer volume of people” overwhelming the hospital. She was exhausted.
On Christmas Day, Lucy sat in her living room, taking telemedicine calls. She stayed on the west coast, unable to see her family in New York. Lucy found comfort in her patients–their ability to receive care over the holidays was a relief for them and their families, and she felt that gratitude, even through a screen.
Lucy found comfort in her colleagues, too. “At the medical center, there was multidisciplinary collaboration, all for Covid. There was a growing sense of comradery. I became friends with teams of nurses and people I’ve never worked with before. That was the silver lining…the comradery and collaboration, and the supportive staff…It
felt like a big change.” She also called her medical school classmates for advice and guidance. Lucy noted how quickly health professionals pivoted during the pandemic–many took on additional roles and swiftly adapted their work in the face of the global crisis.
Lucy spoke about the vaccine rollout with pride, highlighting UC San Diego’s leadership in the vaccine effort and their ability to set up one of the country’s first super stations at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. Though the emerging variants and hesitation around the vaccine reminds Lucy that her work is far from done, she is energized by the momentum of the vaccine effort.
To cope, Lucy finds comfort in the familiar—her San Diego beach runs, live-streamed yoga classes, and Facetime calls with family and friends. She threw herself into her work, and said that being in the middle of the crisis, instead of seeing it happen from the outside, made it feel more manageable. “Every day, I feel like I’m doing something to help the fight against this pandemic.”
As a member of the graduating class of 1997, Lucy says “the spirit of service and community that Grace instilled in all of us is something I’ve carried through.” In the face of an immeasurable public health crisis, Lucy’s innovation and ability to put collective over self has enabled her to serve her community well even as the overwhelming force of the pandemic continues to shape Lucy’s demanding profession.
Lucy is an infectious disease specialist at UC San Diego. She received her Bachelor’s in Human Biology from Stanford University, and her M.D. and M.P.H. from Tufts University School of Medicine . She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai and then a fellowship in infectious diseases at UC San Diego Health.
© 2022 Grace Church School
Grace Church School is a co-educational independent school in downtown Manhattan, New York City providing instruction for nearly 800 students in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12.
