PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE There’s a lot going on in our world right now. The challenges of the COVID pandemic have changed, but the strain it has caused and continues to cause is palpable to all of us in varying degrees. Like many of you, I have spent considerable time reflecting on ways to move forward, focusing on how to provide excellent care for patients and how to thrive personally and professionally. This has been no easy feat. I was recently sitting with a patient of advanced age who had just been discharged from the hospital for injuries sustained from yet another fall. While reviewing her case – vitals, labs, imaging studies, preventative screenings, performing a clinical evaluation, meeting meaningful use and documentation requirements, examining the criteria for ordering further diagnostic testing or prescribing a medication or referral or procedure to treat or manage her medical conditions in a fashion acceptable to the insurer – she asked how I was doing. Unlike my usual answer of “Fine.” I unexpectedly answered, “It ’s been rough,” guiltily followed by, “not as rough as what you’ve been through, though.” She replied, “I feel fine. You look terrible.” I laughed, “How do you know? I’m wearing a mask and safety goggles.” She rolled her eyes and said, “I can tell.” I told her not to worry about me, negotiated whether she would use her walker or let the home health physical therapist into her home this time so she could improve her balance, and gave her a list of proteins she might tolerate so she could recover, all the while weighing the merits of hair dye and cosmetics. My barely middle-aged body ached with fatigue at these thoughts. My next patient was a healthy but worried young woman who needed reassurance that despite what her smartwatch or the internet said, she did not have atrial fibrillation or sleep apnea. I gently and cautiously guided her to consider that she may, possibly, potentially, probably, have some anxiety. She said, “I think I’m just anxious.” As I tried to hide my sigh of relief that my motivational interviewing skills hadn’t fallen flat, and I proceeded to address her anxiety. As my day went on, I dispelled some rumors about microchips in the COVID vaccines to multiple individuals glued to their smartphones while listing the side effects that had actually been reported to the CDC. I thanked a patient for recommending a book of conspiracy theories that he found educational. I delicately asked an adolescent about a bruise on her thigh, holding my breath and hoping the aggressor was her desk or a pet, not a person. I hoped that if it was a person, she trusted me enough to tell me, and if she did, I would be able to help her. Thankfully, she insisted it was her car door, and I believed her. I explained to another patient that we couldn’t check all the vitamin levels or all the hormones or screen for all the cancers but did have screening tools like mammograms, colonoscopies, and pap smears, which were quickly declined. But this was not an exceptional day. It was just another day at the office. Is this what I signed up for? What I spent We care for people and our communities despite the barriers. We all chose this profession, and in the face of obstacles, we find compassion in caring for our patients regardless of what they look like or what they believe. President ’s Message | Continued on page 8 By Saphu Pradhan, MD, FAAFP 7 |
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