Although Dickens characterized Dr. Alexandre Manette’s plight as “the best of times and the worst of times,” to many of us today, healthcare may seem to be in the worst of times. A rather sobering litany of the extreme challenges facing contemporary healthcare and its providers was recently outlined. A contemporary constellation of factors, including the incredible lethality of COVID, has brought this further fundamental emotional challenge to health care providers. Providers are understandably emotionally conflicted between struggling to control emotions to provide objective care and the moral distress of often doing so without compassionate engagement. Perhaps nowhere is there a better example than military physicians rendering aid to enemy civilians and even combatants.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 04, 2022 17:32 UTC