Editor's Note, Volume 10 Issue 2

D’Arcy Little, MD, CCFP, FCFP, FRCPC Medical Director, JCCC and HealthPlexus.NET

I am pleased to introduce the Spring edition of the Journal of Current Clinical Care.

Dr. Marina Abdel Malak presents Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic as a Healthcare Provider: Take care of your 'MEPS' (Mental, Emotional, Physical, Social Health). The COVID pandemic is an unprecedented situation. Feelings of isolation, uncertainty, fatigue, and a loss of control have created stress among individuals across the world. Healthcare providers are in a position where they must balance their personal, familial, and work obligations during the pandemic. As frontline workers, healthcare providers are particularly vulnerable to the physical, mental, emotional, and social stressors encountered during crises. This can contribute to burn out, physical illnesses, and dissatisfaction. It is therefore essential that healthcare providers are supported in acknowledging and normalizing these feelings, and accessing a variety of online resources to help them cope during this time.

In their article, Development and Implementation of a National Canadian Spine Surgery Registry, Greg McIntosh, Dr. Michael Craig, Dr. Charles Fisher explore the goal of the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network (CSORN) that is to develop a registry for Canadian orthopaedic and neurosurgical spine surgeons to participate in prospective multi-centre trials and retrospective reviews utilizing multivariable analyses. The design allows ongoing research and contains clinical details necessary for epidemiological assessment. Predictive models, effectiveness of surgical procedures, wait time issues and patient-surgeon expectations are some of the specific topics already published with CSORN data.

Dr. Michael Gordon offers insights on an interesting question, Is There a Place for the Commons in the World of COVID-19?. The current COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the awareness of the concept of the Commons. The idea of the Commons dates back to the Englishmen William Forster Lloyd (1794-1852) and Garrett Hardin (1915-2003) who framed an understanding of the idea that; common property such as grazing lands which was expanded to much of the world's goods must be shared in a way that does not disadvantage others who should benefit from the resources that the Commons provide. Let us hope that this pandemic serves as a catalyst to remind us of the importance of protecting the Commons.

I hope that you are practicing social distancing and staying safe at home. Please consider commenting or submitting an article of your own.