First and foremost, I hope you and your families are healthy and safe.

It has been said too many times over the last few weeks that these are unprecedented times. The coronavirus has asked us to change almost everything we know and love about who we are and those people with whom we interact. No longer are we about to greet each other with a robust and heartfelt handshake or a hug (and I am a hugger). In fact, those opportunities for meeting people have all but disappeared from our lives because our world has been narrowed to the grocery store and pharmacy. Even those outings have become completely transactional – get in for what you need and get out as fast as you can. No longer do we have the opportunity to sit at the benches at the Bunker Hill Mall or the ones around Pier 4 to talk to complete strangers. For some, our world has also narrowed to the few people who are at home with us all the time or the people in the little boxes during our Zoom meetings.  

We are all living at a time when anxiety, fear, and stress are a big part of our lives. We are looking for answers where there are none. We are seeking the “truth” where multiple versions of the truth exist. We want to know what our life will be like when this pandemic has subsided. Oh, and by the way, when with that be?

And while this pandemic is forcing us to change the way we do almost everything in our lives, it is compelling us to come together, as a community, in ways we never thought possible. While we know that the path forward is unclear and changing all the time, we also know that we can count on each other to create new approaches to how we do our work or lift each other up.  

Over the last three weeks, I have witnessed and heard of so many of our IHP members going above and beyond to address the needs of the community. I have also seen incredible innovation brought on this challenge. I will name just a few of them here but please know there are many, many more that I could include, all critically important to our community. 

  • On our very first day of moving all of our coursework online, Dr. Mary Knab, the IMPACT Practice Team, and many faculty led a virtual simulation with over 30 groups of students, learning together about clinical care. Under normal circumstances this experience is challenging, but the team created a virtual environment that was amazing and allowed the students to experience interprofessional practice at its best.   
  • Tony Sindelar has created as series of You Tube videos on how to teach online in our “New Normal.” By providing best practices and strategies for online teaching, Tony has helped faculty improve the quality of their teaching for our students. But he also has reduced the stress on our faculty because they have solutions to their problems readily at hand.  
  • Last week, our Staff Council held a virtual wine and chess that was attended by over 40 people. They “visited” with each other, enjoyed a beverage of their choice, and played a trivia game. Ours is a community that enjoys socializing together. By creating a virtual opportunity for socialization, we can create a sense of normalcy that we have lost over these last few weeks.  
  • I could go on!

While we don’t know the answers to many life’s questions today, I do know that we will overcome this virus and begin to bring back a sense of our previous lives. We, as a country, as a people, and as a community that have overcome so much before this crisis, will stand together to defeat the virus, learn from this experience, and grow both individually and collectively. When the vision of the IHP was developed, a major assertion included the importance of the education of leaders in health care and the research and outreach that improves health care. Through this pandemic, we have seen the importance of that vision in real time. 

Finally, stay healthy by heeding the CDC recommendations for social distancing and handwashing. Pay attention to your own self-care. Virtually reach out to others who might be having a particularly difficult time during this pandemic. I know we will get through this together.

Paula