The first recorded residency program was initiated in John Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland. The idea behind the use of the term “resident” was to assert that the main working, thriving and resting place for a person learning the sacred art of healing should be the hospital. The doctor to patient ratio then was 1:1000 which is considered the standard norm for every country even today.
Excessive Workloads
Surprisingly, even after maintaining the same ratio along with the advancement in medical technology and in general the overall development, the burden on practising doctors is nowhere near to minimise. Majority practising doctors enrolled in a residency program work round the clock exceeding the 1919 House of Work Convention that states a maximum of 48 hrs of work per week and 8 hrs of work per day. Notably, any resident physician working in a tier 1 and 2 city is working multiple shifts, ignoring the minimum amount of sleep that any body requires for working efficiently, a healthy and timely meal to replenish the energy and the constant longing for a familial connection that gets lost eventually.
Toxic Work Environments
All this effort and hard work is further poisoned by toxicity from some seniors who continually discredit the work and overburden the immediate junior and majorly the last in hierarchy who finally burns out and collapses. Such a lifestyle takes a huge toll on the residents’ mental and physical health that physicians/surgeons who advise patients to refrain or quit unhealthy habits such as smoking, alcohol consumption and fast food are actually the first one to go for it whenever they catch a break.
Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Sugar loaded beverages are an instant source of energy that a resident consumes around 500 ml to 1 litre of such drinks on a daily basis inheriting the harmful effects alongside. Cigarettes and vaping have become common to ease the malaise and anxiety in both mood and muscle. Alcohol consumption becomes their forte since forgetting the day’s bad trip and having to fall asleep faster becomes easier with the fiery poison. The last resort to such overbearing misfortunes are marijuana, illicit drugs and pills which are easily available to residents via forged prescriptions and hospital supplies.
Impact on Health and Lifestyle
Ironically, almost 85% of doctors who are and should be considered pioneers of a healthy lifestyle are living a life completely opposite, to the brink of harbouring mental disorders which are often paired with substance abuse and morbid systemic functions. 24 hrs a day working non stop, sleeping less than 3 hrs per day and having constant slurs being yelled at by seniors, faculty and patients’ kin while gradually leaping into a more senescent biological age, older than the years on a birth certificate sacrificing their youth and harbouring multiple communicable infections due to exposure to morbidly ill patients is something everyone around takes for granted.
Conclusion
When asked, is it all worth the effort, they just look at you and smile without complaint. The glittery shell of a profession considered highly prestigious has a rotten core through and through with very less to break the cycle and make it less challenging of a task to learn and grow as a doctor for the ultimate benefit of the patient and a more efficient and effective healthcare system.
