When we were initially taken out of the hospital, I was kind of conflicted about how to feel. We are wired as future physicians to help when our countrymen need us most. I desperately wanted to enter the fray, to take care of the afflicted because after all that's what we signed up for. Then the realization sets in: the utility that you actually have as a student on the wards in a pandemic, the potential for infection and spread, as well as the lack of equipment, and you begin to understand why decisions were made. However, I still wanted to help. I saw an opportunity when a friend of mine at another medical school volunteered to take care of one of her attending’s kids so that they could get errands done and I thought this definitely was a way that I could contribute, albeit indirectly, to the pandemic.

Physicians are some of the most stressed individuals on the planet during this crisis. If we can help alleviate even a little bit of that stress by watching their kid for a few hours, taking their pets out for a walk, or even running to get them groceries or other errands then I think that it will make a difference in the lives of patients. I can imagine it is easier to focus on whats going on in the hospital when you know that everything at home is going to be okay. So I reached out to Alyse and, with the help of Mary Margaret and MN CovidSitters providing infrastructure, we founded GA CovidSitters.

What Am I Involved With?