Wrestling with
Pandemic Fatigue By Greg Basky In the early days of COVID-19, many Saskatchewan physicians were feeling anxious.
ability of the system to keep up with the changes has become the greatest challenge or frustration for physicians. The pandemic is a chronic situation and chronicity is very wearing on people.”
“They were waiting for the huge spike in cases that was predicted,” said Brenda Senger, the SMA’s Director of Physician Support Programs. “They were worried about protective gear to avoid bringing the virus home to their families. They wondered if they had the skills they’d need if they were redeployed.”
Many of the calls to the Physician Health Program (PHP) are from physicians who are recognizing this fatigue and looking for tools to take care of themselves. “Self-care is often the first thing physicians will let go of, but now they’re finding that if they don’t attend to those things, the chronicity of it (COVID) is having a greater impact on them”.
Over a year and a half into the pandemic, it’s fatigue that Senger and her counterpart, Clinical Coordinator Jessica Richardson, are increasingly seeing in the physicians and medical learners reaching out for help. The ongoing uncertainty is wearing, she said, because physicians like to be in control.
Physician Health Program sees increased demand
“Every week, there’s some evolution to battling this pandemic, some change that has to be made,” said Senger. “The
Senger and Richardson are the first point of contact for physicians who reach out to the PHP, Senger in Saskatoon and Richardson in Regina. The pair do an initial triage to determine what type of support doctors and learners need. While they provide a lot of counselling themselves, they also refer physicians to the program’s consultant psychiatrists. SMA DIGEST | FALL 2020
13
