Nature Heals.

Abstract

Bright green leaves emerged from bare tree branches and frogs croaked in chorus as I walked through the early spring forest. Sensory immersion in nature's new life softened the graphic memory of having watched a young patient desquamate, lose her top layer of skin, and die due to devastating complications from a bone marrow transplant. During the formative years of pediatric residency training, I ran and walked in the woods to process the most challenging or upsetting cases. Unsurprisingly, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold during my second year as a primary care pediatrician, a local nature reservation became my escape.