Many important figures help protect our communities, from firefighters to teachers who keep our kids safe at school. March gives us two opportunities to honor a group that plays a vital role in our health: physicians. In honor of National Physician’s Week, March 25-31, and National Doctor’s Day, March 31, we recognize physicians who are making a difference in our communities and around the world.
National Physicians Week
National Physicians Week and National Doctors Day are two great opportunities to recognize physicians. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, there are 1,061,141 professionally active physicians in the U.S.
These hardworking caregivers have faced a number of challenges during the pandemic. In the article Changes in Physician Work Hours and Patterns During the COVID-19 Pandemic, published June 2021, the authors found that during the pandemic, the hours physicians worked per week decreased from 51.8 hours in January 2019 down to 47.5 hours in May 2022.
While a decrease in work hours sounds like a good thing, it came with turbulence and volatility. One month, procedures and chunks of patient practice could be completely shut down due to case spikes. The next month, those procedures become available again and the patient need doubles. In addition to shifting patient loads, physicians have worked through personal protective equipment shortages, unruly patients and shifting regulations during the pandemic.
Caresfield Cares: Supporting Physicians Around the World
As part of our Caresfield Cares program this year, Caresfield is distributing thank you notes we wrote last month, and we made a $5,000 donation to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) this month. The organization was unavailable for an interview, but a spokesperson did give us an update on what their physicians are dealing with in the Ukraine:
“With active fighting ongoing, determining the true extent of medical needs in Ukraine remains challenging. Our teams are preparing for a wide range of scenarios to make sure we’re ready to adapt our response as necessary. This interview with our deputy head of emergency programs explains how we are addressing those challenges.
“The situation is fast-evolving, so we are mobilizing general emergency-preparedness response to be ready for a variety of potential needs. Just yesterday we sent three trucks from our depot in Brussels with 120m3 of medical kits to Ukraine. In the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, our teams have already distributed medical kits to treat war-wounded people and have provided telemedicine training in trauma care to 30 surgeons from eastern Ukraine.”
We are very thankful to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières for their important work abroad. We also applaud and appreciate the physicians at hospitals and other domestic care facilities.
How Can You Show Your Appreciation?
Here are some ways you can recognize physicians:
- Say thank you on your favorite social media platform and include the hashtag #NationalPhysiciansWeek
- Write a thank you note and send it to your physician’s office or hospital
- Drop off a goodie. Stop by your physician’s office with a cup of coffee, homemade cookies or another treat
- Give your physician a red carnation. The flower is symbolic of National Doctor’s Day and represents love, charity, sacrifice bravery and courage
Thank you, physicians, for all the hard work you do keeping us safe!
