Modern Lines
As Michael Leach sees it, the healthcare community comprises three groups of people: those who receive care, those who provide care, and those who teach and build the evidence base. In his poem, Modern Lines, Dr. Leach provides insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic affects educators and researchers in terms of the newfound distance between academics and their students, and the loss of control the virus has caused.
Modern Lines
by Michael Leach, PhD
i once worked on the frontlines
dispensing medications to patients
in community settings
striving to drive quality improvement
in hospital settings
then one summer’s day
before the pandemic
i became a lecturer
now i work predominately online
teaching certain topics to healthcare students
supervising healthcare students’ projects
researching specific healthcare topics
thinking of all the healthcare workers
& patients
bravely standing
either side of the frontlines
in the very midst
of this deadly pandemic
as i study student evaluations
& journal impact factors,
i dearly hope
i’m making a difference
out there on the frontlines
there are times i find
proof
on or between the lines
sometimes
i become a patient
waiting in line
for someone
who cares