IDEAL participants portraits

“This is what I would like to be — save children.”

If you were a type of infection, which one would you be?

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. “It has a significant impact on the patient, and you always remember it because you are really sick.”

If you were a microorganism, which one would you be?

HIV. “It’s in stealth mode for a long time, causing a lot of damage before anyone notices.”

If you were a vaccine, which infectious disease would you target?

PAN-vaccine against diarrhea. “It’s a major issue for children in low-income countries, and I want to save children.”

“A teacher’s role is to make sure the students work hard, not to do the work for them.”

If you were an antibiotic, what would be your mechanism of action?

Discussion. “My action mechanism is to stimulate discussions among participants so they can share their experiences.”

If you were a TTT teaching tool, what would you be?

Case studies. “I would like to use situations, problems, things that could happen, and discuss them in small groups to come up with ideas.”

If you were a medical student learning about infectious diseases, what teaching method would you want to experience?

Real-life examples. “I’d prefer case studies over theory, showing pictures or videos of real patients and discussing diagnoses.”

“There’s this Goldilocks zone, where a pathogen isn’t too dangerous for the host but can still mutate to avoid being recognized by the immune system.”

If you were a type of infection, which one would you be?

Persistent infection. “Something slow and sustained, like the host-pathogen interaction, which is fascinating.”

If you were a microorganism, which one would you be?

One that works in a community. “I have worked solo, but I’d prefer working with others, like certain microorganisms that thrive in communities.”

If you were a vaccine, which infectious disease would you target?

HIV. “HIV, because it mutates rapidly and the immune system can’t recognize it.”