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Inspired to enter the healthcare field by his father, a physician in Hungary prior to WWII, and his sister, a physician and alum from NYMC’s School of Medicine, Thomas Sharon, R.N., D.P.N., M.P.H. ’88, was working as a nurse practitioner in Las Vegas, Nevada when the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold. “My M.P.H. in epidemiology provides me with the ability to identify community resources and advise people on how to prevent the spread of infectious disease,” explains Mr. Sharon, who is the sole primary care provider for hundreds of homeless people in Las Vegas. “When the pandemic hit, I notified the Governor and Health Commissioner of the logistical problem in homeless shelters regarding social distancing and lack of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for my staff and me. No one responded, but we continued to report to work as most of our patients have multiple comorbidities and some have appeared with COVID-19 symptoms.”

Prior to his work at the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis, he spent some time in Hungary, gaining international experience as a nurse practitioner and serving as a visiting professor at the University of Pécs, Hungary, in the first nurse practitioner program in the country’s history. “My main responsibility was to establish clinical protocols and teach the particulars of the health care system in Hungary and the European Union,” he explains.