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

As a busy primary care doctor, here is what I am facing

Amy K. Weimer, MD
Conditions
January 15, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

“Doctor, how are you doing?”

I’m really so grateful when people take the time to ask this. But when I respond, candidly, that it’s been tough and I’m definitely not doing great, I often hear, “But you haven’t had any patients who have died from COVID, have you? And you got the vaccine, didn’t you?” Fortunately, no (not yet) and yes.

My heart goes out to our ICU, inpatient, and ER teams who see the sickest patients and deal with loss regularly. But they are not the only members of our health care system who are struggling and overwhelmed.

Here’s what, as a busy primary care doctor in a large academic health system, I am facing.

I answer many daily questions (and complaints) about exposure, travel, testing, and vaccines. I manage my patients with COVID until they either recover or get sick enough to be hospitalized. I adapt weekly to new PPE policies, now requiring masking and eye protection during my entire time at work. I don’t eat or drink enough because there is no safe place to do so. My colleagues and I wolf down lunch in five unmasked minutes to avoid exposing each other excessively. I get tested on my own time.

At the start of the pandemic, overnight I adapted to telemedicine and learned how to care for patients safely without seeing them in person; even when I should they are often reluctant to come in. I navigate faulty technology and spend excessive amounts of time just trying to connect with patients. My phone calls and emails have increased dramatically. I counsel patients and families about how to stay healthy and sane despite isolation, fear, and way too much together time.

Of course, this is on top of continuing the regular care for my large patient panel that preceded the pandemic – new cancer diagnoses, diabetes management, scary bumps and lumps, weird rashes, and general well care. And still, my department holds me personally accountable (with financial consequence) to maintain my productivity and ensure all of my patients are getting their screening tests, like colonoscopies.

Meanwhile, I am striving to adapt my personal and our system’s practices to better address health inequities throughout our most vulnerable populations. I pursue new research endeavors. I continue to teach medical students, residents, and other health professionals – learning along with the rest of the world about how to do this effectively over Zoom, as well as in the clinic. I spend most of my lunch breaks in Zoom meetings. Days are longer and unrelenting. There is no downtime.

Let me be clear, however – I believe my health system has done an excellent job responding to this pandemic. Our system is in no way unique, and I have better working conditions than many. There is simply no space in what we do for this pandemic – yet here it is.

Through this, like everyone else, I am trying to help my own family survive. I see every day the possible consequences of each small decision. When my teenagers ask if they can see a friend, I conjure my young patients who have been so socially isolated they are contemplating suicide, as well as the families who have lost loved ones because they were not restrictive enough. My kids cannot grasp how much these seemingly innocent requests fracture my psyche. And my darling husband, whose breath of life is social contact, is somehow standing strong amidst this isolation, and I want desperately to show up for him.

I miss hugs. I miss entering into another person’s home. I miss petting someone else’s dog. I miss being in the bleachers at my kids’ sports events. I miss traveling to see my family. I continue to be just as human as everyone else.

So please, whenever you encounter folks who are any part of our country’s health system, be kind and patient. Just give them a space to be struggling. And understand why, when we hear that people are tired of restrictions, we beg you to press on. The tunnel has been long and twisty, but the light at the end is beckoning.

Amy K. Weimer is an internal medicine-pediatrics physician.

ADVERTISEMENT

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

The adaptive unconscious, the physician, and AI

January 15, 2021 Kevin 2
…
Next

You didn't sign up for this. You don’t have to drown in the paperwork.

January 15, 2021 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: COVID, Infectious Disease

Post navigation

< Previous Post
The adaptive unconscious, the physician, and AI
Next Post >
You didn't sign up for this. You don’t have to drown in the paperwork.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • Primary Care First: CMS develops a value-based primary care program for independent practices

    Robert Colton, MD
  • Primary care makes a difference for patients and the nation

    Glen R. Stream, MD
  • The many benefits of strengthening the primary care workforce

    Nicole Liner-Jigamian, MSW
  • Primary care faces a very difficult winter

    Ken Terry
  • The biggest health care fix: a relentless focus on primary care

    Suneel Dhand, MD
  • The hidden work of primary care

    Michelle Nall, MPH, ANP-BC

More in Conditions

  • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN should know

    Frank I. Jackson, DO
  • How are prostate exams done and why you shouldn’t avoid them

    Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD
  • Airlines’ policy ignores your do not resuscitate (DNR): Discover why and some ways to protect yourself

    Althea Halchuck, EJD
  • How coaching transforms care for people with multiple sclerosis

    Jessica Singh, MD and Liz Kiniry
  • Integrating vitamin education in mental health care

    Scarlett Saitta
  • Mumps orchitis still causes infertility years after childhood

    Oluyemisi Famuyiwa, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Meeting transgender patients where they are: a health care imperative

      Tyler B. Evans, MD, MPH | Physician
    • How AI, animals, and ecosystems reveal a new kind of intelligence

      Fateh Entabi, MD | Tech
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • Why agency and partnership are vital in modern health care

      Alan P. Feren, MD | Physician
    • How molecular discoveries are transforming preeclampsia prediction and care

      Thomas McElrath, MD, PhD and Kara Rood, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN should know

      Frank I. Jackson, DO | Conditions
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How are prostate exams done and why you shouldn’t avoid them

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • Airlines’ policy ignores your do not resuscitate (DNR): Discover why and some ways to protect yourself

      Althea Halchuck, EJD | Conditions
    • A dual citizen’s choice between two imperfect systems [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

Leave a Comment

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

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Meeting transgender patients where they are: a health care imperative

      Tyler B. Evans, MD, MPH | Physician
    • How AI, animals, and ecosystems reveal a new kind of intelligence

      Fateh Entabi, MD | Tech
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • Why agency and partnership are vital in modern health care

      Alan P. Feren, MD | Physician
    • How molecular discoveries are transforming preeclampsia prediction and care

      Thomas McElrath, MD, PhD and Kara Rood, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN should know

      Frank I. Jackson, DO | Conditions
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How are prostate exams done and why you shouldn’t avoid them

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • Airlines’ policy ignores your do not resuscitate (DNR): Discover why and some ways to protect yourself

      Althea Halchuck, EJD | Conditions
    • A dual citizen’s choice between two imperfect systems [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

Leave a Comment

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

Loading Comments...