Doctors' Day 2023

Doctors’ Day 2023

As we move from pandemic to endemic times with Covid (after three long years), I keep thinking about how things have shifted for me as a doctor. How I feel like doctors/physicians/nurses/PAs/MAs and more have been treated during this pandemic. I say ‘treated’ because I feel like the doctor-patient relationship has shifted many times through these last five years.

March 13, 2020 is when the world shut down for us. It’s still how I think of the early pandemic—when the world shut down. And whether or not you agree with the things we did in order to keep safe, we all agree that the world did indeed stop spinning.

I remember calling a bunch of our patient families just to check in on them. I remember how much respect for doctors shifted a bit in the heart of the pandemic. How medicine became politicized. And how it was all rooted in fear and the unknown. (And more, but I don’t feel like going there today.) And how maybe even a year ago that dynamic didn’t always show much trust in physicians. There were many patient families that still listened or valued our opinions. And there were a few who brought their children in and then proceeded to tell us what they picked and chose to believe from what we were saying.

Somehow with the aftermath of this busy winter season of viruses and illness, we have come full circle again. Our office is starting to look more like pre-pandemic times. And our patient-doctor dynamic has re-set itself too. I don’t know how to put it into words, but I feel it in my day to day.

As ever, I’m forever grateful for the privilege of being a doctor. For finding happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment in my job as a pediatrician. I’m happy that I have this privilege to have a small part in taking care of your children.

Thank you, especially, to those patient families during this pandemic who helped me get through it too. To those who chatted, to those who were patient, to those who were kind as we all figured out what the heck was going on and beyond.

Thank you for being you. Thank you for sharing your lives with me. And for allowing me to be me.