Your Best Life: Sidelined During COVID-19—Coming Back to Work a Better Person and Surgeon

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to upend, at least as of this writing (September 2020), any semblance of normal for nearly everyone around the world. Naturally, anxiety, fear, and helplessness enter our minds. This was certainly the case for some orthopaedic surgeons [4] like me who were appropriately banned from performing elective procedures for several weeks [3].

Having lost several friends and patients to COVID-19, it tore me up that I couldn’t be part of the solution. How can I make a difference if I am not in the game? What good am I? There is a notion among “perfectionist” [2] surgeons that when we are not operating, we have lost our personhood and dignity. But a truncated surgical schedule should not diminish our self worth. In his celebrated classic work, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People [1], author Steven Covey exhorts the reader to attend faithfully to all the roles in one’s life (for example, family, work, and community) in order to attain balance and fulfillment. While under a government-issued quarantine, I made it a point to take that lesson to heart.

It took time, but I managed to change my mindset from feelings of uselessness to appreciation. In truth, I heeded the proactive voice within, which told me to focus on what I could control, namely my attitude. I soon found that despite the upheaval of life as we knew it, I could discern innumerable positives emanated from the global pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis afforded me the opportunity to invest into my roles of husband and father. My life is always better when I protect time to be with loved ones. With no elective surgery to perform and no conferences to attend, I took advantage of my free time by going on nature walks during the weekdays with my wife as well as regular jogging sessions with our daughter, who also was quarantined because she was a second-year medical student. I also enacted an “orthopaedic no fly zone” during family time. A colleague, Dr. Jack Flynn, coined the term whereby he prohibited any talk of orthopaedic obligations while spending time with his family. Though ever mindful of the harms caused to other families by this scourge, I am forever enriched by the memories of spending dedicated time with my wife and daughter this past spring.

I also learned to appreciate and embrace the ways of virtual life [5]. Practicing in an urban environment, many of my patients customarily travel great distances to the medical center where I work. While I am insistent on the virtues of the physical examination in formulating a diagnosis, knowing I could provide responsible care via videoconference and obviate the need for patients to travel was a great consolation. Additionally, I found most virtual visits to be efficient and effective in answering patient questions. Unlike many in office encounters, I was able to see the patients face-to-face rather than splitting time between computer and patient.

And if I did not see as many patients, that was okay, too. My absence from work did not cause a crisis. The world went on without me. My time in quarantine helped me realize that our egos stand as impediments to relinquishing our work to others. My patients found ways of getting care. Their time was better spent seeing another type of provider.

My income diminished in proportion to my decreasing surgical volume during quarantine. But I have (and still have) a sense of peace that I have not experienced or enjoyed in years. The truth is, I have no intention of returning to my old ways. Despite all my writings in this space imploring surgeons to become more mindful and less hurried, the growing demands of contemporary medicine challenge efforts to change. I know this from experience. COVID-19 facilitated a mental transformation and I intend to take what I learned during quarantine and apply it to my post-quarantine work life.

To this end, I have placed limits on my office hours schedule. I make it a point to exit work before 2 PM on Fridays, rather than stay to “the bitter end” of the day to complete my “to-do” list. I am more carefully screening patients as a way to provide more-efficient care. I have slowed my pace of practice and see approximately 25 rather than 45 patients a day. I am truly doing less but accomplishing more as I devote my attention to truly important pursuits regarding education, research, and writing. I am choosing research projects and writing opportunities that are of great interest to me and fuel my passion rather than activities that may look good on my curriculum vitae.

Finally, I have scheduled time with my wife every evening so that we can engage in uninterrupted dialogue. Attend to what is truly important, especially relationships, and a more peaceful and fulfilling life will result.

Tomorrow, Try This

• Look for the good in the COVID-19 era. What have you been more appreciative of since March?

• Schedule regular “orthopaedic no fly zone” time with your spouse/partner.

• Commit to incorporating televisits as a regular part of your post-quarantine practice.