Dear Doc: We've got your back

It’s not often that local opinion pieces we call My Turns become instant classics, but that’s just what happened last weekend.

Coeur d’Alene resident Erika Beck, whose husband is a local physician, penned an extraordinary piece about the challenges that doctors face from the time they first begin preparing for med school entrance well into the years of their practice. In Saturday's paper, Erika shattered the illusion of the fat cat doc whose earthly rewards line up faster than she or he can grab them, and she poignantly addressed the impact of those challenges on the doctor’s family, as well.

Within a day of Erika’s column being published in The Press, Donna Baver Rovito, editor of Physician Family Media, reached out to the newspaper and to Ms. Beck. In part, here’s what Donna wrote:

“Thank you for publishing this outstanding piece yesterday in honor of our organization's Physician Family Day. Physician Family Magazine is a national publication published by the AMA Alliance (sister organization of the American Medical Association which is focused on the families of physicians). We're pleased that Ms. Beck quoted important information from our Summer 2017 issue "Who Heals the Healers?" which deals with the problem of physician stress and burnout: https://bluetoad.com/publication/?i=426235&ver=html5.

“Thank you for recognizing the value of this piece and helping to bring awareness to the myriad issues facing physicians and their families today — problems which existed pre-COVID and have naturally been exacerbated by it.

“Physician Family Magazine and the AMA Alliance will be sharing this article widely on our own social media.”

With the backdrop of Ms. Beck’s eye-opening observations published on Physician Family Day, The Press wishes to take a moment to extend deep appreciation to all the doctors in our area — and to the amazing families that love and support them. As editor Rovito noted, high levels of physician stress and burnout existed even before the COVID crisis. And now? Well, it’s hard to imagine any occupation under greater pressure, which likely translates into family stress.

Next time you see your doc, you can’t give her or him a hug, but your heartfelt thank you might go further than you think.