On November 9, 2020, pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. announced that their vaccine candidate against COVID-19 was found to be successful in Phase 3 trials. Shortly after, on December 21, Ontario hospital Trillium Health Partners administered their first COVID-19 vaccine in the Peel Region.
The rapid development of Trillium Health Partners’ vaccine clinic can be attributed to their extremely motivated staff. This was the first mass vaccination clinic ever opened in Mississauga, and no contributing healthcare worker had ever experienced a virus as impactful as COVID-19. The pandemic affected every aspect of workers’ lives, including their work, school, relationships, and mental health.
I started working in the vaccine clinic a week after they administered their first dose, and I will never forget the excitement and passion displayed by every healthcare worker, including vaccinators, clerical staff, IT staff and cleaning staff—all vital members of the team. Most of the clerical staff were students, many of whom studied at the University of Toronto, with a range of responsibilities ranging from administration tasks to clinician roles. Despite balancing 12-hour shifts with school, these students were consistently eager to pick up more shifts. I interviewed three of my previous coworkers currently studying life sciences at the University of Toronto to determine how working in healthcare during a pandemic affected their student life.
How did your work affect your career goals?
Working on the front lines allowed the team to experience what working in healthcare is like and therefore impacted their career goals. Aaditya Modgal, a Biology specialist at UofT, mentioned that he was inspired by the paramedics he had worked with for several weeks. “I never considered a career as a paramedic,” he said. “However, after working with them, I realized I loved their work culture.” Aaditya said that seeing the paramedic perspective motivated him to consider a prospective career in the field.
Alisha D’souza, supervisor of the clerical staff and a Life Sciences student, was also inspired by working at the clinic. She aspires to be a nurse, developing a long-term career in health management and clinical leadership. She was especially inspired because most of the management team was composed of women of colour, like herself, which she had never experienced before.
Pharmacology and Psychology double major Christina Zakala’s career goals were solidified by working in the clinic. Christina plans to pursue research in addiction and substance abuse. Christina was grateful for the opportunity to work in a clinical setting because it reminded her of why she wants to pursue that field of research. “I want to create solutions with my research that directly aid my community. Just like how the research behind the vaccine is helping millions of lives.”
How did your scientific background affect your work?
“Having a background in science made work more exciting,” said D’souza. “I enjoyed watching the pharmacists make the vaccines and talking to them about the process. It reminded me of wet laboratory work.”
Zakala agreed with this, claiming that her background in psychology helped her deal with anxious patients through conversations and “prioritizing their experience in the clinic to make sure they left satisfied and not in a vulnerable state of mind.”
D’souza said that having a background in science helped her feel more confident on the job because she could answer more questions. It also helped her feel compassion for those hesitant about the vaccine. She realized that many people have limited knowledge regarding the science behind vaccines. This realization granted her perspective and empathy, which further helped her understand the hesitancy prevalent in communities where “science background is low and misinformation is high.”
How did you balance school with work?
Team members often worked overtime while balancing school. Staying motivated to study is challenging already; while battling the pandemic as a frontline worker, it becomes more difficult. Modgal emphasized the importance of rest days, explaining that “finding time to relax was definitely part of the balance a lot of people ignore.” He explained that choosing a day every once in a while to dedicate to rest helped him remain focused. Holding onto hope that the pandemic would end once enough people were vaccinated really kept him going. “I think this job was a privilege because I got to work somewhere where we were all fighting for the lockdown to end, and we all did so hopefully,” he said.
In comparison, Zakala said that making schedules with concrete deadlines was the best strategy for her. “I’m prone to procrastinating with schoolwork, so holding myself accountable with strict deadlines is the only way I keep up with anything.”
D’souza was a full-time student while working full-time hours and was also a research assistant in three research laboratories. D’souza also emphasized the importance of scheduling while balancing school. She mentioned that scheduling was important because it ensured she had time to sleep, something a lot of students neglect. Staying firm to a set schedule allowed her to be “fully present at work and at home.” She suggests the productivity app Forest and the scheduling app Todoist to students, claiming that they were major contributors to her finding balance between school and extracurriculars. Although she maintains that her workload could be difficult, knowing that she was helping the community was what motivated her.
“At our closing we had completed nearly 500,000 doses, nearly 25% of all doses administered in the Peel Region, and over one-third of the entire population (including children) in the Peel Region,” said D’souza. “Through an analysis of infections to hospitalizations to death, we have saved over 5,000 lives. Knowing that I was playing a role in doing that for my community is what made me come to 12-hour shift after 12-hour shift.”
Although many find it challenging to balance work and school, there are clearly strategies to stay motivated. Different people have different habits and attitudes—but there’s something that works for everyone.
