It maybe your first, second or third year in medical school. You might be just starting out, your eyes gleaming with curiosity, ready to embark on this great journey. You may be learning more about pathology, how disease occurs and how to treat it as a junior/clinical assistant in your second and third years. You may also be in your clerkship, almost ready to finish the crossing line.

Either way, your cause has been obstructed by a novel-virus-turned-into-a-global-pandemic. Your entire medical education has come to a sudden halt and the reason is exactly what you were preparing for. You’re preparing to become front liners.

If you know anything about medicine, you know it’s the most sensitive essential work there is. Doctors literally deal with life and death situations every day and all the time while dealing with all different kinds of personalities – with disease. Constant exposure to this is no easy feat. There’s always talk about burn out and how Doctors and healthcare professionals are most prone to it. As medical students, your job is to train yourself to avoid burn out while you still can. Please take care of yourself first so you are healthy enough to take care of everyone else. Start with your own physiological needs first and don’t forget to take some time out of the day to do something that you enjoy. Time is the most valuable resource we have as students.

So if you’re clueless as to what to do, just remember that you need to make the most of all the free time this pandemic, and the restrictions that come with it, have given you. Time management is the antidote for procrastination and the Pomodoro Technique is a great tool for this.

Some of you may be preparing for exams now and maybe overwhelmed because of the pandemic itself. If you don’t have real-time/virtual classes, hit the text books. Brush up on whatever subject you may have prioritized least in the past (because let’s be real, in medical school, there is no way you can give each subject your full attention. There’s way too much content and that’s just science doing its thing to keep humanity alive).

You may be away from your family, dealing with financial and social issues, fearing your own health and safety as well as your loved ones’ but just remember, you are right where you need to be. This is what real doctors face every day for a massive number of hours. All you have to do is focus on your cause for humanity.

Don’t forget to smile! You got this.

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