In 2020, we wrote an opinion piece about covid fatigue that struck a chord with healthcare workers across the world. At that time, we were starting to see the toll […]
Wellbeing
Adrian James: Planning for the long term impact of covid-19 on mental health
We must resource and plan for action to meet upcoming demand […]
Chloe Beale: My illness does not make me a better doctor
Chloe Beale unpicks the tropes of many doctor-patient narratives: her lived experience of mental illness hasn’t given her special insight into her patients, she says, and it is not a […]
Boundaries in medicine: How can we preserve our wellbeing, while still sharing our humanity?
Gaye Cunnane describes how for her the essence of a fulfilling career in medicine is grounded in connection […]
Transforming the everyday into something beautiful: How origami can help encourage self-care
Origami provides a practical tool for self-care, to soothe and create a tiny bit of perfection when the world feels chaotic, writes Lizzie Burns […]
Nick Hopkinson: Man’s 4th Best Hospital—a powerful reminder of the moral hazards that await if we don’t look out for each other
My copy of The House of God, Samuel Shem’s 1978 novel of medical training, disillusion, and resistance, has a quote from Cosmopolitan on the cover; a “bawdy cult classic—Catch-22 with […]
Our not-so-new normal: what covid-19 reveals about how physicians cope with extreme circumstances
“It’s funny, but our lives are pretty normal,” Brian, my overnight shift-mate, said as he donned his hair net, mask, gown and gloves before seeing a covid-19 patient. Of course, […]
All of us have a survivorship bias in regard to how we were trained in medicine
The change precipitated by covid-19 has shown us that just because it’s “always been done this way”, doesn’t mean it should be, or has to be […]
Peter Brindley: Covid-19 fatigue and “masking” how we feel
Covid-19’s second wave is upon us, and it could easily turn into a tsunami. I want patients to know that healthcare professionals are still here for you. Use whatever maritime […]
“Need for Recovery”—an early indicator of impaired healthcare staff wellbeing?
As we enter the latter half of 2020, an uneasy feeling pervades the corridors of hospitals and clinics across the world. While many systems have emerged relatively intact from the […]