The COVID-19 pandemic has caused us all to focus on what really matters. Our health, the health of our loved ones, and the health of society. I am quite proud of the Canadian federal, provincial and municipal governments for their actions aligned with public health recommendations to flatten, if not plank, the curve. They have made difficult decisions in a reasonable timeline to protect all Canadians.

So we are more than eight weeks in. All of our lives have been changed in unfathomable ways: Our daily activities, how we work, how we play, and how we connect with each other. Many important life events have been canceled, postponed, or have been drastically transformed. Who knew that a few months ago, we would be talking about crushing the curve, getting to the crest, pivoting, physical distancing and that we would be perceiving our clinical environments as a war zone from which we need to protect ourselves and our families.

As 2019 ends, I have a wish list for 2020 and beyond. As a collective, we must focus on the greater good for the health of Canadians, and ensure the success and wellbeing of those in our environments including learners by:

“At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”  Maya Angelou

Since the release of our Report on Unmatched Canadian Medical Graduates (uCMG), the AFMC has worked relentlessly to address this crisis. We have advocated that provincial governments consider increasing the number of residency positions to augment the ratio of undergraduate to post graduate positions to 1:1.2, and to unblend the CMG and IMG streams.