"I suspect that some of the nearly 20 percent of physicians who have quit their jobs during this pandemic needed to feel this relief, too. They needed to feel the relief of having no plan. No 'if this, then that.' They needed to just exist in the now. Because who knows how long the now will be around anyway? Will we wake up one day and find that years have gone by without knowing it because we were so busy planning ahead for scenarios that never occurred?

This is not something that worksite wellness programs can provide or resilience training can foster. It is a reality of COVID-19 when you are caring for anyone who needs you, as much as (or more than) your patients. The miracle is that there are so many of us left in the workforce at all, riding the waves of uncertainty feeling like the only COVID contingency plan we can depend upon is ourselves."

Margaret B. Nolan is a physician-scientist.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Am I a doctor or a contingency plan?"

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