Today, at the end of the day, I began to panic. I am worried that the lives of many young people will be destroyed by COVID-19 and I can’t see a way to stop that…yet. Two months ago, my patients were in school, starting the second semester of high school. Some were applying to college …
Every day I look at all the COVID-19 news and statistics that I can find. I’ve turned into one of those people busy checking every online report and comparing data. I’m not surfing news channels yet, but it’s close. I read about the trends in COVID-19 infection. I’m relieved to hear that, in British Columbia …
For the next few months, all my patients will be over 18. I haven’t even started this new job and already I miss the people I usually see: my exasperating, infuriating, inspiring and exhilarating teenage patients. I miss watching the shows they love with them, eating popcorn, playing pool and baking cookies. I miss the …
Today, I worked with a new team on a different unit in my hospital, dedicated professionals willing to risk their own health – within reason – to look after some of the most vulnerable mental health patients in this city. They are coming together quickly, working at breakneck speed. We are building an entirely new …
This weekend has been lovely. There have been no critical messages from work. I’ve been able to prepare some meals for the week ahead and have been in touch with many of my family members and friends. I am living a very comfortable, very privileged life. Around me, however, there are cracks in people’s social …
I come from a family of medical women. Like most women my age, the medical women in my life were nurses. My father’s sister, my mother’s sister and sister-in-law, my own sister and her daughter are all nurses. At the time I became a doctor, my mother’s sister and sister-in-law were still nursing full time …
It is a beautiful early April day in Ottawa, not the kind of day you think about dying, but I am thinking about dying. Specifically, I am thinking of the news out of New York State about doctors and nurses dying. I have seen the tributes to these doctors and nurses on television. I have …
Today was interesting. Today I did some usual office work while social isolating: some teleconferences and some patient appointments and a few outreach phone calls. Then I recorded a new message for the Youth Program lines because everyone calling in needs to hear from the Clinical Director that we are closed. We discussed how to …
I have never worked from home as a Psychiatrist until two weeks ago. Now I am learning how to do this, what the advantages and challenge are. Facebook and Instagram have many cartoons and videos of people trying to work from home with varying degrees of success. Many reading will have seen the video of …
Today I closed the inpatient program in my department. The patients were discharged, their rooms are being cleaned and the nurses were sent to other programs. What was once a busy place with teenagers and music blaring, the television on and people making popcorn is now a shell of its former staff. Some doors still …
