Discovery Podcasts - Doctors on the COVID-19 frontline
How do doctors really feel in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Doctors are far more vulnerable to COVID-19 than many of us realise. Specialist Dr Venesh Moodley is one of countless healthcare professionals vulnerable to severe illness as a result of repeated exposure to COVID-19 every day, at work. The challenge he and his colleagues face is immense. The stress, responsibility and importance of every decision they make weighs heavily on them. Dr Moodley shares the fear and hope that doctors feel, and explains what life is really like for doctors right now as they do all they can to keep themselves, their families and each and every one of us safe.
A doctor speaks to his colleagues: take care of your health, to be able to care for others
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic our focus is on flattening the curve, working through the stay-at-home period and maintaining physical distancing. How many of us have paused to acknowledge the mental and physical healthcare challenges that every healthcare professional now faces, day in and day out? Endocrinologist Dr Sundeep Ruder has a deep passion for wellbeing and public health. He tells Azania Mosaka why, and how, our healthcare professionals should care for themselves as they tackle the COVID-19 tide. He also helps us all to better understand the situation our healthcare professionals find themselves in.
Tools for healthcare professionals to cope with the stresses of COVID-19
Medicine is a stressful profession under normal circumstances. Medical personnel are even more at risk of burnout so under crisis conditions such as during a pandemic. Psychotherapist Louisa Niehaus, looks at how healthcare professionals can cope during the time of extreme anxiety and uncertainty brought by COVID-19. This is a time in which the demands of the work can lead to exhaustion, cynicism and perceived inefficiency. Caring for patients who are sick and deteriorating can be very stressful and deeply saddening. Louisa shares insight into acute stress reactions and how doctors can help themselves through the present and future reality.
