Training in the Time of COVID-19: Yearning for Closure
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During the past year, the life of graduating residents and fellows has been a whirlwind of despair and ambiguity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While we completed our training and inaugurated our professional journey, we lacked the appropriate farewells with the faculty members and other staff who trained us. We also felt a sense of despondency about patients who were handed off to a new batch of trainees without in-person closure.
The unfortunate parting with patients, teachers, and colleagues over an online platform left us feeling somewhat plundered and bereft of the joy and celebration that usually accompany graduation. Despite this, we appreciate the efforts of our academic leaders to find ways to honor trainees amid their own feelings of mourning.
Even though the scenario for graduating trainees was suboptimal this year, we will remember the ways in which we contributed to responding to the crisis and the intense learning experiences that we had never anticipated. We will have our opportunity for closure someday. ■
RITVIJ SATODIYA, M.D.
New York, N.Y.
