Reimagining Care: Himanshu Agrawal, MD

Hello. My name is Himanshu, and like most people, I wear many hats. During the COVID-19 outbreak, I have moved my workspace to the basement of my home. Unsurprisingly, our entire team in the Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Clinics at Froedtert & MCW Tosa Center has been busier than ever. This is certainly the hardest I've ever worked since internship! I say that to try and validate that you are not alone in feeling this way.

I continue to see all of my usual patients (medication management and psychotherapy), many of them with increased frequency. We have also started a virtual call-in “Coping Clinic” here at Tosa Center for MCW students, residents and their families under the leadership of Dr. Heidi Christianson. This is also where I co-facilitate two of the several virtual peer support groups that have been started recently for my colleagues throughout MCW under the leadership of Dr. Adina Kalet and Dr. Jon Lehrmann. For a while, I even attended a third one as a participant, though I've had to put this on hold in lieu of parenting duties until my cardiologist wife moves back home; she has been renting a separate place for the last two months to keep our elderly housemates safe.

Lastly, my basement is also my classroom where I teach didactics to medical students, residents and fellows, and precept medical students for a newly created ambulatory telepsychiatry elective.

I am a week behind in my notes, my pile of readings is getting taller, and I perpetually feel inadequate in each of my personal and professional duties. Yet, like many others I know, I am still optimistic that all of this will not be for naught. We shall overcome.