Beware the Medical Intern

A recent study published in the NY Times has concluded … “Long Hours Put Medical Interns at Risk.” In other words, exhaustion from on-call shifts lasting 24 hours or more has led to increased risk for the interns to “stick themselves accidentally with needles and other medical equipment.”

I would like to add to that headline that the Medical Interns themselves may not be the only ones at risk. Every year the patients who seek care from these interns suffer consequences too. Many accidents, often careless and preventable, happen in the medical world. True, doctors and medical staff are only human, but anyone who has spent a few days under high stress and very little sleep knows that kind of lifestyle takes its toll. Memory, clarity of thinking, emotional state and judgement all become impaired without adequate sleep. Modern research has just begun to prove that medical staff should take better care of their own wellness to ensure everyone's safety.

Personally, one of the reasons I opted out of medical school was that the whole process of medical school and medical lifestyle seemed unhealthy. As someone to whom other people would trust for providing heath care, it was important to me that my own wellness was a priority. It didn't seem right to go through a training process which forced me to sacrifice my own ideals, and I'm glad that I found a program which included maintaining my own wellness throughout.

It is important to many of my patients that they seek health advice and receive healthcare from someone who sets an example by taking good care of themselves. These medical interns who are at risk soon become doctors- a population notorious for high stress, low sleep, and a schedule too hectic to maintain their own wellness. How does that affect their performance? Tune in to the next warning to find out.

posted by Jessica Silver, L.Ac.
http://www.amazinghealing.com/jessica.php