Page 20 - Lauren Lolo Spencer Issue

20 ABILITY
U.S. Surgeon General
Vice Admiral Vivek H Murthy
Feeling lonely? You’re not alone. According to US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (our country’s 19th and 21st Surgeon General, serving under both the Obama and Biden administrations), even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, about half of US adults reported significant experi- ences of loneliness – including Murthy himself at various points in his life. In his recent Surgeon General’s Advisory on Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, as well as his captivating new book Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, and his wellness-centered podcast House Calls, Murthy makes the case for viewing loneliness as a signifi- cant public health issue. Loneliness affects not only our emotional health, says Murthy, but also physical health, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and premature death, as well as depres- sion, anxiety, and dementia. Loneliness significantly drives up health care costs and other economic costs. Fortunately, Murthy also outlines many things we can do – as individuals, community organi- zations, workplaces, health systems, and governments – to facilitate improved social connection and lessen what he describes as our epidemic of loneliness.
Born in Northern England to a family of Indian descent, Murthy emigrated with his family in early childhood first to Canada and then to Miami when he was 3 years old. Valedictorian of his high school class, Murthy went on to attend college at Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in biochemical sciences. He earned a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Yale School of Medicine and a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) from Yale School of Management, then completed residency training in internal medicine at the prestigious Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Public service was an early focus for Murthy, even before he was clear about his future path in life. As a college freshman in 1995, Murthy co-founded VISIONS Worldwide, a nonprofit organization focused on HIV/AIDS education in the US and India. Two years later, he co-founded the Swasthya Community Health Partnership, which trained women to work as community health workers and educators in rural India. In 2008 – just around the end of his residency training—Murthy founded Doctors for America, now a nonprofit organization of more than 27,000 physician and medical stu- dents advocating for improving affordable healthcare access. Prior to his first term as US Surgeon General, Murthy served during Obama’s first presidential term on the Presidential Advisory Council