Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

In times of crisis, physicians will always come together to take care of you

Clarissa Barnes, MD
Conditions
March 16, 2020
Share
Tweet
Share

COVID-19 is here.  As the numbers of cases continue to grow, my fellow physicians have to evaluate how we will respond when the number of ills outnumbers our current capacity.  Older physicians, younger pregnant physicians, physicians with young children at home, no matter their personal circumstances, the response is the same: “If we’re needed, we will be here.”  There is no hesitation to do what we’re trained to do.  For physicians, medicine is not a job.  Medicine is a shared calling to care for others.

Historically, it has always been this way.  We used to have fewer tools, but the same hearts.  During the bubonic plague, towns would hire plague doctors who knowingly attended to the sick.  At that point, they had little to offer in the way of treatment, and bloodletting was common.  They couldn’t interact with the general public because of their professions, but they were committed to alleviating suffering anyway.

When I was a senior resident, a physician was shot by a patient’s family member in the hospital.  The initial page that was sent out was brief, but the messaging was to lock ourselves in our offices.  We quickly realized that the patients were in their unlocked rooms.  How could we lock ourselves away and leave them open for harm and also not continue to take care of them?  The hurried calm I saw in my colleagues that day is something I’ll always remember.  If my fellow physicians were afraid, they didn’t show it.  The dug into the work of taking care of others and our shared commitment.

Lately, it has sometimes felt like we’ve lost our shared profession.  We’ve become so fractured in sub-specialties and so overwhelmed by the requirements of what we do.  But, even when the system is breaking, my colleagues don’t put patients in the middle.  They stay late to see the new consults.  They chart from home to check on results.

The connections between physicians these last several weeks have exploded.  Physicians all over the country and the world are banding together to share information.  Doctors are sharing what they’re seeing in their local COVID-19 cases.  Others are sharing possible treatment options.  People are sharing how to work through how to protect staff from exposure and how to get testing done.  The speed and ease of information sharing on a novel infection have been unprecedented in my lifetime, and it’s all been motivated by trying to learn from the experiences of fellow physicians to give everyone the best chance of success.

I’m a hospitalist, and I was trying to explain to my husband concerns about staffing when physicians start getting pulled out for isolation.  He looked at me and said, “You’ll volunteer to work their shifts, won’t you.”  I will.  But I fully expect the rest of my physician colleagues to step up too.  Because in times of crisis, physicians will always come together in our shared calling.  We will always take care of you.

Clarissa Barnes is an internal medicine physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

4 financial mistakes medical residents make and how to avoid them

March 16, 2020 Kevin 0
…
Next

Side gigs medical residents can consider

March 16, 2020 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: COVID, Infectious Disease

Post navigation

< Previous Post
4 financial mistakes medical residents make and how to avoid them
Next Post >
Side gigs medical residents can consider

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Clarissa Barnes, MD

  • To my health care colleagues in South Dakota

    Clarissa Barnes, MD
  • Physician suicide awareness: glimmers of hope for the future

    Clarissa Barnes, MD
  • COVID-19 is a war on two fronts

    Clarissa Barnes, MD

Related Posts

  • Turn physicians into powerful health care influencers

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Are patients using social media to attack physicians?

    David R. Stukus, MD
  • Why physicians should care about structural racism

    Akshay Pendyal, MD
  • The risk physicians take when going on social media

    Anonymous
  • Physicians and patients must work together to improve health care

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • Physicians have become devalued in modern health care

    Anonymous

More in Conditions

  • What if medicine had an exit interview?

    Lynn McComas, DNP, ANP-C
  • Finding healing in narrative medicine: When words replace silence

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • Why coaching is not a substitute for psychotherapy

    Maire Daugharty, MD
  • Why doctors stay silent about preventable harm

    Jenny Shields, PhD
  • Why gambling addiction is America’s next health crisis

    Safina Adatia, MD
  • How robotics are reshaping the future of vascular procedures

    David Fischel
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Mastering medical presentations: Elevating your impact

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why what doctors say matters more than you think [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden incentives driving frivolous malpractice lawsuits

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Bureaucracy over care: How the U.S. health care system lost its way

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How a rainy walk helped an oncologist rediscover joy and bravery

      Dr. Damane Zehra | Physician
    • How inspiration and family stories shape our most meaningful moments

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • A day in the life of a WHO public health professional in Meghalaya, India

      Dr. Poulami Mazumder | Physician
    • Why women doctors are still mistaken for nurses

      Emma Fenske, DO | Physician
    • How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 1 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Mastering medical presentations: Elevating your impact

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why what doctors say matters more than you think [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden incentives driving frivolous malpractice lawsuits

      Howard Smith, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Addressing the physician shortage: How AI can help, not replace

      Amelia Mercado | Tech
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
    • Bureaucracy over care: How the U.S. health care system lost its way

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Why the fear of being forgotten is stronger than the fear of death [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How a rainy walk helped an oncologist rediscover joy and bravery

      Dr. Damane Zehra | Physician
    • How inspiration and family stories shape our most meaningful moments

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • A day in the life of a WHO public health professional in Meghalaya, India

      Dr. Poulami Mazumder | Physician
    • Why women doctors are still mistaken for nurses

      Emma Fenske, DO | Physician
    • How home-based AI can reduce health inequities in underserved communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

In times of crisis, physicians will always come together to take care of you
1 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...