The clocks change, the season changes, physicians’ lives change, athletes compete, and a river turns green. It must be March, and most of us feel more hopeful than we did in March a year ago, as we entered the unknown of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daylight Saving Time
Most of the United States changed to Daylight Saving Time on Sunday March 14, 2021. Hawaii and Arizona do not (the Navajo reservation in Arizona does.)
The territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also do not observe DST.
So if you don’t like changing your clocks, you might consider moving to one of those places.
St. Patrick’s Day
Of course you know that March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day.
The parade in Chicago has been cancelled, as it was last year due to the pandemic, but they revived the tradition of dying the Chicago River green.
My son took this photo a few years ago .
Welcome Spring
We will welcome the first day of Spring, March 20, in the northern hemisphere, with the occurrence of the vernal equinox. I don’t think the virus can stop that, but may make it less enjoyable.
This link to The Weather Channel explains what the vernal equinox means.
National Residency Match Day
On March 19, graduating medical students find out what residency program they will enter through the National Resident Matching Program , which “matches” them with available positions in residencies all over the United States.
Why should you care? This matching process determines who will care for our medical needs in the next 30-40 years; our family physicians, internists, pediatricians, general surgeons, obstetricians, dermatologists, psychiatrists, and the multitude of other medical specialties. Most doctors will continue in the same specialty their entire career, although some switch after a few or many years.
For those graduates who match to a residency, especially if it is their top choice, it is a day for celebrating with family and friends, almost like a graduation. Last year and again this year, most of the celebrating will be done virtually, due to concerns about viral spread. Read more about
Why this year’s Match will be strikingly different
Read this previous post about the new doctors who will care for you
National Doctor’s Day
March 30 has been designated National Doctor’s Day in the United States. You may not have heard of a day to honor doctors. The idea came from a doctor’s wife, Eudora Brown Almond, and was first observed on March 30, 1933, in Winder, Georgia.
“Physicians don’t run from challenges. We run toward them.”
Dr. Patrice Harris
In 2020, Dr. Patrice Harris, past president of the AMA wrote this about National Doctor’s Day .
“Physicians display heroism and courage every day in their hospitals and clinics. But today, on National Doctors’ Day, their selflessness in the face of a deepening health crisis is truly extraordinary.
We’ve seen many cases in the U.S and around the globe in which physicians have fallen seriously ill or died after treating patients for COVID-19. The physical toll alone is daunting—extremely long and taxing hours in the hospital—but the emotional toll is just as significant, and enough to overwhelm even the most seasoned and experienced doctor. No one can say for sure how long the health threat will last or how much more our nation’s physicians will be asked to give.
When you ask physicians why they chose their profession, answers vary. But one theme tends to underlie all the responses: a profound commitment to helping others. We are called upon to help in moments like these. As I said in my inaugural address last year—that feels like a lifetime ago—“Physicians don’t run from challenges. We run toward them.” “
March Madness- NCAA basketball tournament
Even people who don’t follow college basketball tune in for March Madness-when college football teams vie to be named the National Champion. Cancelled last year, the tournament will resume this year on March 18, with protocols in place to prevent spread of the virus among the players.
March 2020
You can reflect on March a year ago at this link
March Sadness-how COVID-19 has changed 2020
In 2020 we’ll be thanking doctors for tackling this new and largely unknown disease that just a few weeks ago we knew little about. Since then we’ve learned it’s name, it’s genetic make up, symptoms, how it spreads, and complications, and slowly learning what does and does not work, and how to contain and stop…
exploring the HEART of health
More scenes from Scottsdale Arizona, photos by Dr. Aletha
Use these links to share the heart of health wherever you connect.
watercress words by Dr Aletha 