December 2021

One of the key aims of SGIM Forum is to feature the creative writings and critical reflections of its membership. Gently pushing boundaries and expanding our horizons through respectful dialogue and a combination of gradual and fast-paced change when each is necessary, SGIM members move our communities forward with fresh and vital perspective. As we approach two years since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and changed our worlds, several SGIM members look back — and forward — in this issue on how our decision-making about in-person personal and professional activities has changed in response. SGIM Forum Associate Editors, Block, et al, introspect on the uncertainties and conflicts they face when protecting themselves and their families from COVID-19. Lypson, SGIM President, and 2022 SGIM Annual Meeting Co-chairs, Tuck and Redmond et al, offer a clear vision of SGIM’s near future at an in-person meeting: Early Bird registration for the meeting is now open!

As one of the top three Arts & Humanities submissions from the 2021 Mid-Atlantic SGIM Annual Meeting, Kulkarni sees her current place as a medical student as a prelude for her post-pandemic future as a physician. Still other SGIM members examine how pandemic responses have offered durable lessons in GIM health services. O’Glasser writes about how perioperative medicine adapted during COVID-19, while Pilapil, et al, share learnings from preparing and then deploying pediatric clinicians in COVID-19 care settings. Nemeth, et al, describe the positive effects of COVID-19 on graduate medical education, recruitment, and clinical experiences, in a collaboration between SGIM Education Committee and the Education Subcommittee of Health Policy Committee. Bass, SGIM CEO, looks towards the future at scientific opportunities for addressing health disparities through new approaches to funding. Finally, Leung, SGIM Forum Editor, looks ahead at more humankindness during and beyond the pandemic.