This [situation] is disorienting and troublesome for myself and many others. I have found myself using things I never considered before, such as the Headspace app to meditate, online yoga and virtual happy hours—such foreign concepts—are becoming quickly commonplace.
I know many of my colleagues and trainees are trying to balance care for their children or elderly parents along with continuing to perform their work from home and be available to volunteer and help when needed. Staff are not needed in clinics at the regular volume, so many are not working, working from home, if possible, or have been re-directed to other services.
Medical students and residents have been pulled off of any elective rotations, and many are staying at home so they are available as other healthcare providers get sick, quarantined or the volume requires the dispatching of more hands on deck. This is all along the backdrop of nagging questions about how long this will last, what the post-COVID-19 world will look like, and whether there will be enough PPE, ventilators and dialysis machines to care for those who need it.
Although this all sounds pretty bleak, there truly are areas of growth and hope that are sprouting against this backdrop. The amount of volunteerism, altruism, support, innovation and willingness to dive in and do whatever is needed is truly awe inspiring. I have never been prouder to be a physician because I’m surrounded by so many resourceful, intelligent, passionate and dedicated people.
Carina Stanton is a freelance science journalist based in Denver.
