By Brenda Senger, Physician Health Program Director, Saskatchewan Medical Association
Grief & Hope
As we look back over 2020, the pandemic resulted in us having to grieve many things:
- Loss of control
- Loss of feeling safe at work and in the world
- Loss of the ability to touch/comfort our patients without wearing PPE
- The ability to have meals with our colleagues at the same table
- The loss of loved ones, colleagues and patients to COVID
- The ability to explore the world
- Loss of celebrations with family and friends
- The fact that disease can still outsmart medicine (for a while)
But 2021 offers us HOPE! The hope to:
- Hug someone without fear of contamination
- Receive way fewer emails
- Talk about something other than COVID 19
- Get vaccinated
- No longer have to get undressed, wash my hands and change my clothes before I can hug my kids after work
- Watch a movie on the big screen not Netflix
- Travel again
- Recognize all the skills and gifts I brought to dealing with the pandemic
- Have the ability to adapt to our new reality
It is not the smartest or strongest who survive – it is those who can adapt.
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Stress is inevitable. Struggling is optional.
If you are a physician struggling with mental health concerns,
please know there is a safe, confidential place for you to contact.
Call the Physician Health Program at the Saskatchewan Medical Association.
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