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Behind the Mask

Facing the chaos of the early pandemic– “The craziest experience of my lifetime…”

In early Spring 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic provided a US Primary Care Physician with an opportunity to support his community in a new way – He and his team decided to volunteer on the Covid hotline. This act not only reframed how he viewed the impact of the pandemic, but how he […]

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Behind the Mask

Admiring the strength of colleagues when leadership failed

For a Neurologist in the UK, reflecting on the 2020 pandemic effort leads to strong positives AND negatives, in how it has been handled in his country overall. At the top of his list of positives, he’s been able to see firsthand the strength of his colleagues. “Despite years of working a very difficult and […]

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Behind the Mask

Financial uncertainty. Another pandemic stressor for doctors

Staying open in a closed economy. For a US-based Neurologist, the COVID-19 pandemic forced him into into a whole new type of battle, and one he wasn’t prepared for. Because while businesses were shutting down, and everyone was staying inside, he found himself doing everything he could to keep his practice up and running. “I recall learning the word “Pandemic” […]

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Behind the Mask

Chronic disruption

In our piece about readiness of healthcare systems to wave 2 of the pandemic “Were we ready for round two?” we looked at the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems overall readiness. In this article, we will focus on the care of long-term patients with chronic conditions to provide some interesting insights into the […]

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Behind the Mask Uncategorized

We’re in this together.(except for everyone else… they can’t be trusted)

The second wave has been a test of self-discipline and trust in others also playing their part. The hardest part of noticing a trend towards an upward swing of cases (and the inevitable deaths that sadly follow) is the knowledge that for a brief time it almost looked like the virus was under control. The […]

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Behind the Mask Uncategorized

Behind the Mask of a US Physician’s Assistant

Blindsided by furloughs and financial insecurity In the US, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on a Physician’s Assistant were personal. Because while the pandemic started almost as a non-event, its first true impact came in a form that took her and her ER colleagues completely by surprise . “When COVID first started spreading across the […]

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Behind the Mask

Were we ready for round 2?

In the lull between waves one and two of the pandemic, our Behind the Mask surveys found that people were evenly split as to whether or not healthcare systems would be able to cope with another wave. This uncertainty was generally evenly distributed across geographies, and among patients, payers and doctors, but some differences have […]