If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that physicians have needs, too–yet they often hesitate to admit it, much less take the time to prevent unmet needs from piling up into a crisis. National Doctors Day offers us a chance to acknowledge the sacrifices they make and the care they provide to millions of people around the world each year.
In these times of pandemic waves and physician shortages, life is just as complicated as healthcare is demanding. That’s why more than 50,000 doctors and advanced practice clinicians opt for the flexibility, schedule control, and change of pace offered by locum tenens medical practice.
Whether or not you’re among the ranks of “fill-in physicians,” we salute you on National Doctors Day 2022. Here’s to your finding the work-life balance and job satisfaction you deserve in 2022 and beyond!
Here’s how the locum tenens industry is marking this ‘Day of the Doctor.’
CompHealth
Sonya Sloan, MD, reflects, in a blog post updated March 8, on National Physicians Week 2022 (March 25 – 31), why we should celebrate the contributions of physicians, and how we can show our appreciation. In her post Dr. Sloan shares how National Doctors Day began, as follows:
In the United States, the first Doctor’s Day observance was on March 30, 1933, in Winder, Georgia. The idea came from Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Charles B. Almond. The date was the anniversary of the first use of general anesthetic in surgery: On March 30, 1842, in Jefferson, Georgia, Dr. Crawford Long used ether to anesthetize a patient while the doctor removed a tumor from the patient’s neck…
On October 30, 1990, the US Congress passed S.J. RES. #366, which President George HW Bush designated Doctors Day as a national holiday to be celebrated on March 30.
Consilium Staffing
Consilium titled its National Doctors Day blog post, “Physicians and Medical Staff Deserve A Heartfelt Thank You.” Its March 30, 2022, article put the challenge physicians face into perspective as follows:
In the United States, approximately one million physicians are responsible for addressing the health and wellness needs of more than 331 million people. When you do the math, it’s easy to see just how dedicated these providers have to be to keep up with the demand for their expertise. Mix in the threat from the COVID-19 pandemic, the physician shortage, and emotional burnout, and there’s no doubt that physicians are some of the hardest-working professionals on the planet.
Floyd Lee Locums
In honor of National Doctors Day, the Charleston, SC-based locum tenens firm posted two physician profiles: one about a doctor serving recently in a humanitarian capacity and another about a physician who wished she had realized the advantages of locum tenens work 20 years ago.
The former began:
On any given day, locum tenens physicians are at work across the country supplementing healthcare workforces, delivering needed treatment, and lifting up communities. What many don’t realize is that locum physicians also play a critical role in providing care for large scale humanitarian efforts. That was the case when Dr. Adedipe stepped up for an assignment supporting the Afghan evacuee efforts last year.
The post described how this doctor worked in field hospitals set up on military bases to care for refugees evacuating Afghanistan—many with no resources or family to support them.
Hayes Locums
In its March 29, 2022, blog post recognizing National Doctors Day, Florida-based Hayes Locums listed 3 reasons for appreciating the doctors with whom the agency works:
- They Put Their Patients First
“…locums work…gives them the flexibility to focus less on paperwork and more on the reason they got into medicine in the first place: taking care of patients.” - They Go Where They’re Needed
“Our physicians go where they are most needed, from rural locations that lack providers, to trauma centers in cities in which they’ve never lived. Their willingness to expand beyond their comfort zones…galvanizes us to keep pushing past our own.” - They Inspire Us With Their Resilience
“COVID-19 has demanded so much from doctors, but physicians continue to step up and provide care for their patients. Their resilience inspires us to learn from their example.”
Staff Care
From Twitter, we learned the Staff Care team created a special Doctors Day video to show the firm’s appreciation. Check it out here: https://fal.cn/3nmiL
In Conclusion
To end things on a humorous note, we love this tweet from architectural design firm Parkside Towns:
Happy National Doctors Day!
