Can you see the top?

Can you see the top?

It’s hard to know what’s next with COVID, but one thing we can count on is a significant backlog of non-COVID care and mental health burden in the community. As an association, we’ll be advocating for all parts of the system to be adequately resourced to meet these health needs.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS are familiar with the term ‘false peak’ – a point on the trail that deceptively looks like the summit. Upon reaching these false peaks, climbers are often filled with despair. The fatigue, combined with the realisation they have further to climb can induce feelings of discouragement, hopelessness, and failure. 

So-called false peaks, and the feelings associated with them, are not limited to mountaineering. I think it’s fair to say that in November last year, as the State edged closer to 95% double vaccination rates among people aged 16 and over, there was a collective notion that perhaps we were close to end of the pandemic. Airfares went down and ticket sales went up. Plans for big family Christmas gatherings were in place and we all looked forward to getting back to ‘normal’.

And that feeling lasted about a week.

Having to rally for another variant of COVID has been difficult – psychologically, physically, and emotionally. The fact that Omicron hit during the holidays, at a time when we were all feeling exhausted from the previous two years and desperately looking forward to a break, was especially cruel. It doesn’t matter if you are a general practitioner, a private specialist, a doctor-in-training, or a medical student – we are all experiencing a sense of fatigue that can’t be met by sleep alone. The issues felt by each group may be different, but we recognise everyone is struggling.

And now we’re being told that we are close to another ‘peak’ and we can expect a fall in positive COVID cases soon. I hope that they are right. However, there is still so many unknowns with this virus that I hesitate to make similar predictions. 

What we do know is that there remains a huge load of non-COVID care and mental health burden that needs to be addressed, even if we see a reduction in COVID cases. With an election looming, we will be looking for better funding solutions to these health needs.

The strength of the AMA is its broad membership – with doctors from all specialties and stages of career, we represent many different parts of the health system. As a result, the AMA advocates for solutions that are integrative and holistic – that take into account the issues prevalent in primary care, public hospitals and the private sector. My thanks to all those members and councillors who have provided their perspectives from the frontline, as your feedback has helped inform our advocacy throughout this crisis.

I also want to acknowledge and welcome our 2022 interns, some of whom have started their training earlier than usual and will be entering the medical workforce during a very challenging time. The AMA is your professional association now and in the future. Whether we’ve hit another false peak or we’re at the top, we can help you get to where you need to go on your career journey.