"As I read about Dr. Breen, saddened by the fact that we have been robbed of yet another young, promising, motivated physician, I am reminded that as bad as this pandemic is — and truly believe it is awful — when it gets better (and I have to believe that it will), we can’t forget. Because all the other things that have always been there but got shoved to the back burner by COVID will be there again. And no matter what kind of medicine you practice, there will be unique (and some not-so-unique) stressors.

We are always expected to be kind to our patients. But my plea to you is to be kind to each other and, more importantly, yourself. You’re worth it. And I promise there is someone out there who understands what you are going through.

Sometimes you just have to ask."

Annalise Sorrentino is a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric emergency medicine physician. She can be reached at her website, on LinkedIn, and on Twitter @BlazerMD.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "A message for health care workers: Be kind to yourself." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/08/a-message-for-health-care-workers-be-kind-to-yourself.html)

This episode is sponsored by The Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX). The Nuance DAX solution makes it possible to forget the tech-toggling and reduces documentation burdens no matter how or where care is being provided. (www.kevinmd.com/nuancedax)