Agarwal, Prerna

Gupta, Vivek

English

University of Calgary Journal Hosting

Canadian Medical Education Journal 2020 	Correspondence:	Prerna	Agarwal,	M.D.,	Assistant	Professor,	Dept.	of	Physiology,	Jawaharlal	Nehru	Medical	College,	Datta	Meghe	Institute	of	Medical	Sciences,	Sawangi	(Meghe),	Wardha	442001,	Maharashtra,	India;	email:	dr.preranaagarwal@gmail.com	xx Canadian	Medical	Education	Journal	Commentary	and	Opinions	COVID	19	pandemic:	An	opportunity	to	investigate	medical	professionalism	Prerna Agarwal,1 Vivek Gupta2  1Department of Physiology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Maharashtra, India 2Department of Pathology, Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Uttar Pradesh, India Published ahead of issue: August 13, 2020 CMEJ 2020   Available at http://www.cmej.ca © 2020 Agarwal, Gupta; licensee Synergies Partners https://doi.org/10.36834/cmej.70202 This	is	an	Open	Journal	Systems	article	distributed	under	the	terms	of	the	Creative	Commons	Attribution	License	(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)	which	permits	unrestricted	use,	distribution,	and	reproduction	in	any	medium,	provided	the	original	work	is	properly	citedThe world is fighting day and night to cordon off COVID 19 pandemic. Since its outbreak in Wuhan, China in November 2019, the disease has spread to more than 210 nations across the globe, infected more than 20 million people and has claimed  more than 7 hundred thousand lives by the time of writing this piece of communication.1  A decline in the spread of the disease is nowhere near in sight; despite tremendous efforts. As it continues to prevail unabated, it shall not be an exaggeration to say that it may take ages to rise again from the ruins of the pandemic’s seemingly bottomless sea of devastation.  Availing the visas and passports of its victims, SARS – COV 2, the causative agent of COVID 19, crossed borders and, it is an irony as well as a silver lining in the clouds, it has ended up uniting the world!1 Leaders of different countries, industries, and global agencies have come together on the global platform in unprecedented efforts to outrace the spread of the contagion and mitigate its effects.  Amidst this profound crisis, the medical fraternity outshines all in this endeavor. From being the vulnerable frontline workforce to carrying out fast paced research in laboratories, sharing knowledge and resources regardless of boundaries, it has displayed before the world what the true meaning and essence of medical professionalism is! Different nations and cultures attribute different meanings to medical professionalism. But among its diverse definitions, there are some broadly identified values that underlie all of them.2 And to everyone’s delight and amazement, each of these values has been exhibited in a stunning fashion in the unselfish dutiful response of the medical personnel across the world in the face of this calamity.  Altruism, compassion for patients and others, empathetic communication, integrity of professional character, striving for excellence and continuous improvement, working in association with others and above all, the sense of accountability, have all been displayed in their finest shades. Health care personnel Canadian Medical Education Journal 2020 	 xx the world over are reaching out to every corner of their nations and delivering health care to even the most underprivileged sections of the society without any discrimination. Those involved in research and development are striving to find cure and vaccines for this formidable disease. Research and health data are being shared to its effect. Scientific communication platforms, research associations and bodies, and journals have made the data freely accessible to ease advancement in this endeavor. The frontline medical workforce is tending to the patients’ needs day and night. They are the ones who are at the highest risk of contracting the disease themselves. But they have upheld their duty of service to humanity. They are working tirelessly round the clock. Apart from this physical challenge, the amount of mental agony they suffer is far more. They see patients die despite their best efforts and communicate with the grieved families and friends of the patients. They see their colleagues contracting the disease from patients, some of whom, unfortunately, lose their lives. All this while, they isolate from their own families and friends who may be needing them. They struggle to carry on their daily lives amidst lockdowns. And they even have to put up with social stigma of their being an inadvertent carrier of the disease!3,4 Medical colleges have always strived to teach their students professionalism in different ways. Yet, medical professionalism, one of the most essential elements of the medical curriculum remains poorly understood and practiced. However, the current response of the global medical fraternity to this unforeseen and unforgiving contagion, while being faced with the threat themselves, is exceptionally exemplary: medical students, and professionals themselves too, can absorb the essence of medical professionalism from it. At this time, when the involvement of medical students in hospital and community services has been shelved to protect them from the pandemic and to direct all resources towards patient care and related activities, they should reflect upon the response of the  healthcare community via news, scientific journals, etc. to investigate its scope and meaning.5 The importance of ingraining medical professionalism in the future workforce can never be understated.  It is time that nations reflected upon their directions of advancement and rerouted their resources towards the betterment of humanity. The current pandemic is an opportunity in disguise to learn. Nations should work in coalition for advancement of healthcare and medical professionals themselves should continue to strive towards exemplary practice this noble profession.   Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Funding: The authors declare no source of funding.  References 1. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic. 2020 (https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019) [Accessed on April 11, 2020]. 2. Ali A, Anakin M, Tweed MJ, Wilkinson TJ. Towards a Definition of Distinction in Professionalism. Teach Learn Med. 2020 Apr-May;32(2):126-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2019.1705826   3. The Lancet. COVID-19: protecting health-care workers. Lancet. 2020 Mar 21;395(10228):922. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30644-9  4. Rose C. Am I Part of the Cure or Am I Part of the Disease? Keeping Coronavirus Out When a Doctor Comes Home. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 18. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2004768  5. Representatives of the STARSurg Collaborative, EuroSurg Collaborative, and TASMAN Collaborative. Medical student involvement in the COVID-19 response. Lancet. 2020 Apr 2.  https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30795-9     

La pandémie de la COVID-19 : une occasion d'examiner le professionnalisme en médecine

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La pandémie de la COVID-19 : une occasion d'examiner le professionnalisme en médecine

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