Healthcare students are exposed to a constant barrage of stressors. Some stressors can be directly attributed to their education, while others are just the result of life. The reality is - Stuff Happens. We then attempt to cope with all of that chaos in some way and so we can move on handle the next thing that happens. The problem is that we don't really ever let go of it all. We carry it around like pack mules and then wonder why we are exhausted and emotionally drained. Before being thrust into the stressful environment of healthcare, I always found it so paradoxical to see our healthcare providers with self-destructive behaviors. Respiratory therapists that smoke. Dietitians that are morbidly obese. Pharmacists with substance use disorder. It seemed crazy that people who studied the very things they treat would choose to engage in activities that even they will tell you are bad. Now that I am here (in the hospital, in the clinic, in healthcare) I recognize how naive I was in my judgement. It easy to slip into habitual coping pattens to handle the ceaseless cluster of tasks, needs, metrics, and favors that are required of you as a clinician. Furthermore, these behaviors start when we are students. In a cohort of 4,402 medical students, 1,411 (32.5%) met diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence. ONE IN THREE of our future physicians.... Just let that sink in… They also looked at the predictive factors that increased these students risk for alcohol abuse/dependence and not surprisingly, they were burnout, depression, and reported low mental or emotional quality of life. I want to share three more examples that are much more narrative and less data driven. These come from the book The Mindful Twenty-Something by Holly B. Rogers, MD. In one of chapters introducing mindfulness, she describes her interactions three (de-identified) students. I immediately empathized with these stories, having felt each of scenarios myself.
Comments are closed.
|
Details
Archives
February 2019
Categories |