ABSTRACT
Since 2020, the world saw a myriad of creative health‐care policy responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic. This article studied the experience of rural primary care providers (PCPs) in India deputized for COVID‐19 care in urban areas. In‐depth interviews were conducted with PCPs (n = 19), who served at COVID‐19 facilities. Lack of epidemic management and intensive tertiary care experience, limited and inadequate training, and fear of infection emerged as the primary sources of distress, in addition to absent systemic mental health support and formalized recognition. Even so, resilience among the respondents emerged as a result of encouragement from their families, peers, and mentors through various means including social media, and from individual recognition from communities and local governments. Rural PCPs expressed an eagerness to serve at the frontlines of COVID‐19 and demonstrated indomitable spirit in the face of an acutely understaffed health system, growing uncertainty, and concerns about personal and family health. It is imperative to reconfigure health‐care education and continuing professional development, and equip all health‐care professionals with mental health support and the ability to deal with public health emergencies and build a more resilient health workforce. Highlights COVID‐19 revealed several gaps in the public health emergency response and the overall health system in India. Building healthcare worker resilience is essential to ensure good quality patient care and a strong system. There is a need for a formal framework to build individual and organisational resilience in the Indian health system.