DMD AS student recognized for volunteer efforts during pandemic

In March 2020, as COVID-19 began to spread across the U.S., Daniel Ekoh DMD AS 23 had recently completed a master’s degree in public health.  Ekoh decided to put his experience in population health and epidemiology to work as a volunteer for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), a force of dedicated volunteers who support the community in the event of a public health emergency. 

The Commonwealth of Virginia recently recognized Ekoh for his work with the MRC during the pandemic.  

“The corps needed experts with clinical and public health knowledge to help out with contact tracing and case investigations for positive individuals,” Ekoh said.  

He worked as a member of the medical reserve corps’ epidemiological response team, screening potential close contacts of positive patients and advising those who tested positive.  

“I put a call to them, asking how they feel…and enter responses into a questionnaire that was designed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC),” Ekoh said. “We entered the details,…and this is how the CDC kept using the data—to review their guidelines, and their policies.”   

The role could be challenging, according to Ekoh, who said he encountered some people who questioned whether COVID-19 was real.  

 “There was this hoax going around, and there were no vaccines [at the time],” Ekoh said.  

In addition to his volunteer work with the medical reserve corps, Ekoh also was working as group home supervisor, taking care of individuals with developmental intellectual disabilities—and he had a family at home he was trying to keep safe from potential exposure.  

“These were the challenges I faced, but it still didn’t deter me,” Ekoh said. “I knew fully well, as a clinician…..it’s a calling that I have, something I signed up for.”   

 Ekoh said that the honor came as an unexpected surprise.  

 “Getting an honor of this nature, signed by the highest authority—the Commonwealth of Virginia—it speaks volumes,” Ekoh said. “It shows that hard work pays. I see it as a clarion call for more work…..whatever honor comes my way, I see it as a motivation and as a drive to do more, to give my best, to help my community and to keep people safe.”