Letter to readers from our Editor-In-Chief, Dr. Amber Robins.
Sis, how are you?
Over the past few weeks our worlds have literally been turned upside down. I personally have never imagined that we would be in such a state as this. In our country we continue to work tirelessly on the front lines for our patients while we lack protection. Some of us have had to come home to take care of our kids and make sure their schooling continues. We’ve had to balance the feelings of fear of this virus with our commitments to our patients, family, and friends.
About two weeks ago, I asked some of our sister docs to tell us about their experiences and what they would want the world to know. Here’s what they said:
“We are in this together. We learn new things hour by hour and share them with you. The thing about COVID19 is that you haven’t seen it before and neither have we. We are on the front lines risking our own health and the health of our loved ones for you as things evolve. And we thank you for listening and staying home.”
-Dr. Barbara Joy Jones
“I hope and pray that people start to understand the true situation that is going on and the short term and long term impacts of COVID19, for individual people, their families, the financial and economic outcome, and the world as a whole. Stay inside, minimize what you need to go out for, and be open to the changes in medicine that are being utilized at a significantly higher rate to protect our patients and the health care workers that we need to take care of all those with COVID-19.”
-Anonymous
“This is new territory for all of us. As physicians we try to remain objective and grounded in science. But when everything has changed and there is not adequate personal protective equipment, we feel scared. We see colleagues also contracting this disease. Some become ill working in the emergency rooms, but one colleague became ill after returning from a vacation. We will get through this, and we need to rely on each other. I’m also relying on faith coupled with evidence based medicine for a novel coronavirus ( so far, there are very few studies.) As physicians, we need to be strong.”
-Dr. Pam Greenspon
“An anonymous meme said it best—I wish people would stop complaining about how hard it is to stay at home when some of us are worried we will never make it home or we will expose someone we love at home. If we are all lucky enough to survive this with the people we love alive and well, the world will go on like we want it to. So focus on how precious time and health with your family is because it is a luxury right now!”
-Dr. Sujata Gill
“I share the same concerns for myself and family as everyone else -only I can’t just walk away and social distance. I still must care for the sick.”
-Dr. Yvonne Sherrer
“I have learned that educating yourself with reliable resources such as the CDC website and local health department as much as you can can decrease fear and anxiety and community selflessness will help us get through this together.”
-Dr. Rodetta Morris
“Overflowing with anxiety knowing there will be limitations on what I can do. But hopeful that humanity will shine through and acts of kindness, compassion and grace will help us through this very dark days/weeks/months. “
-Dr. Sanjie Cox
The core of Women in White Coats is to support you through the good times and bad. We want you to know that we love you and appreciate all the work that you do. Part of that is also to make sure you are doing OK. We have created a What’s App group called “Sis, how ya doing?” so that we can chat and interact with you and support you in a small group setting. Please email us at womeninwhitecoatsproject@gmail.com if you would like to join in.
We also will be hosting our Women in White Coats Conference and Wellness retreat virtually at the end of this month. It’s our hope that we can help uplift our sister docs during this time while also getting a chance to connect with each other. If you want to learn more about the conference, click here.
Love you all soooo much!!!! Stay safe and healthy!!!!
Blessings,
Dr. Amber Robins
