Regis University has ceased in-person classes at this time in response to the recent Pandemic. Read about Class of 2022’s Diversity Chair Peter Lee’s perspective on what this means to us as future healthcare professionals.

“ At the core of being a healthcare professional lies the belief that human life holds value, that it is worth saving.”

Times are undoubtedly tough. We started off our first year of PT school with a foreign cyber-attack and we are ending it with a shift to online classes during a global pandemic. I do not want to minimize that adversity; our shared circumstances are unfortunate. However, it is entirely possible to acknowledge our struggles yet maintain a compassionate outlook for society as a whole. We, the Class of 2022, engaged in passionate discussion in the midst of executive decisions regarding COVID19. As we pondered how we can most effectively be responsible members of society while simultaneously developing our skills as future healthcare professionals, my personal connections drew me to an obvious answer.

It is obvious that most of us got into this profession because we wanted to help people in one way or another. Furthermore, we have made many sacrifices to get here. Personally, my future career as a DPT in the United States is the result of hard work, sacrifice, and courageous dreaming by generations of my family; therefore, we have everything riding on my education. Recent events especially strike my heart as my family survived the SARS outbreak in the epicenter of the epidemic. I was little, but I remember the fear, the funerals, and overall how it changed the fabric from which my home was delicately sewn. The most important lesson I learned from that outbreak was that everyone plays a role in lessening the blow of an epidemic; it is a community effort to flatten the curve. It is important for us all to take the necessary precaution and do our part for the greater good of society.

What makes a great PT is mostly being a genuinely kind person with a little bit of being an excellent clinician. My classmates’ kind and giving nature assure me we are all going to make excellent DPTs, but it is important to practice what will make us great clinicians now. That takes thinking beyond ourselves. While the odds are most of us will not suffer directly from this virus, this goes beyond us. At the core of being a healthcare professional lies the belief that human life holds value, that it is worth saving. We hold the ability to do just that. Even more so, it is our responsibility as future DPTs.

Admittedly, during our class discussion some members were worried the hands-on experience essential to learning DPT skills would be compromised with a shift to online classes so that students and faculty could practice social distancing. I challenge my classmates to look at the bigger picture. This inconvenience in our education is such a small wave in the big ocean of providing healthcare. We cannot risk spreading this disease to those more vulnerable than ourselves. people like our parents or grandparents, the love of someone’s life, someone’s child, someone’s hero. Think of the healthcare professionals that we look up to, that we will be working with one day,  that will be working in overcrowded hospitals that won’t have the capacity to treat those who need. Remember what makes us choose to pursue healthcare every day.

Today, we have the power to enact positive change. We have the ability to discern scientific information from fear inducing social media posts. We have the power to explain to people in our lives why social distancing is important. By attacking our current situation with calmness, peace, and kindness, we can make a bigger difference than we think. Stay healthy, study hard, and spread love.

Peter Lee, Class of 2022

How are you taking care of yourself during social distancing? Aside from their online classes, our students are hanging out with their pets, doing at-home workouts, and responsibly enjoying the trails.