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SUMMER 2008 |
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R
E S I D E N T ' S C O R N E R
Resident
wellness: Another demand?
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Stock Photo |
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It’s two in the morning.
I’m a third-year medicine clerk. I’m exhausted. The interns and senior
residents on call appear just as fatigued, their real lives on hold. I
think (or hope) that it will not happen to me
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By Dr. Sohaib Al-Asaaed |
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It’s two in the morning. I’m a
third-year medicine clerk. I’m exhausted. I look around at the
cramped quarters that are the residents’ write-up. The two interns
and senior resident on call appear to be just as fatigued. Their
real lives appear to be on hold. I think (or hope) that it will not
happen to me.
It’s 2:30 in the morning. I’m putting the
finishing touches to my note after a lengthy yet unsuccessful
resuscitation attempt and a complicated family discussion in the
emergency department. I am exhausted. I can’t wait to sleep, but I keep
thinking of my to-do list for tomorrow: go to the gym, take care of the
flooding in my apartment, pay my overdue NLMA membership fee, file my
taxes and look for an elective position away. Oh, and go on a date
conveniently booked for a post-call day. Clearly, I do have some
semblance of a life, yet after 28 hours of work, I still feel guilty
that I’m not doing a residency-related activity, like studying.
Sadly, everywhere you look, including
within the resident body, the belief is that while one is going through
the academic and clinical trials and tribulations of their medical
education, their life is and should be on hold. For example, a
conversation with a friend and a former colleague revealed to me that I
am not alone in this sense of guilt. She spoke of a colleague of ours
who requested several family days for baby-sitting emergencies as well
as a breastfeeding area. She indicated that we (the resident populace at
large) should not have to cover for someone else’s lifestyle choices:
this is not the time for lifestyle, this is residency!
Outside of the hospital we are no longer
just residents. We are sons, daughters, husbands and wives. We have
children, cars, homes and may get sick. In a profession plagued with
drug abuse, alcoholism, divorce and depression, the battle for wellness
has sadly become a clichéd term and has been denounced as a
counter-productive ideal in the eyes of the many.
Residents had to fight to win many battles
and rights. The well-being of a resident shouldn’t be another. Instead
of satisfying the masses to drown out the demands of the few, we must
look for ways to satisfy the individual. It makes sense. A happy worker
is a productive one.
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