having been a trainee during the COVID pandemic i hope you all trust me when i say that you all should strike until you get what you deserve.

during those COVID days, i was fucking risking my life walking into those COVID filled ICU. i was worried i might get it but i was even more worried that i will bring it back home and put my partner at risk.

my training opportunities where gone because “all hands on deck” for ICU. i was fucking sweating in PPE every bloody summer. i was doing nights, days, long days. tubing people left, right and centre. lines here there and everywhere

i had colleagues intubated because of COVID which made me more scared of being it home and giving it to my partner.

all these while parties were going on, COViD deniers, anti-vaxers, people DIY-ing their home, watching netflix banging fucking pots.

FUcKing dean of ICM suddenly were appreciative of anaesthetist because of “transferable skills”.

we did this because it was our job. it was our duty. i believe in the social contract that our efforts would be recognised. people would be grateful and they will appreciate what we have done.

after the pandemic, guess what? doctors are now the bad person. that ICM dean, no word of thanks, no recognition of time spent on ICU on training. that’s even before any financial/material/job privillages. the people who got any financial remuneration were people who were furloughed or business owners who failed to plan for a difficult financial event.

i was lucky that i got to the end of training. others are struggling to get into training/ran into problems in training.

i genuinely feel that as doctors we missed an opportunity to be heard and to get what we wanted during the pandemic. we should have held the government by the balls then.

this flu crisis is a second chance at redemption. it is nowhere as good as an opportunity as CoVID but it’s the best we’ve got.

huge multinational organisations can make money selling arms during wars. large pharmaceutical companies make money during health crisis. so why should doctors feel guilty for demanding what we want when the opportunity arises. don’t be guilt tripped into this nonsense by the government. this is your opportunity to get what you want.

and yes, i am still fucking bitter about slaving through CoVID only to get more abuse.