Dear colleagues,
As the weather is finally getting cooler, we have flu and COVID season to look forward to. But what happens when we get sick? Below is an excerpt from the NY Times:
“I staggered into the call room and flopped onto the couch. My fellow resident listened to my tale of gastrointestinal woe and did what any residency buddy would do: he slid an 18-gauge IV into my antecubital vein and strung up a bag of IV saline. I spent the pre-dawn hours prostrate on the couch doing phone work — renewing medications, answering calls from nurses, ordering labs — while my colleagues did the foot work on the wards and in the emergency room. Together we kept everything running.
After morning rounds, I caught a few hours of sleep at home, showered, and then reported back to the hospital at 10 p.m. for my next shift.
What I didn’t do was call in sick.”
Dr. Danielle Offri, “Why Doctors Don’t Take Sick Days,” NY Times Opinion
Physicians are humans, meaning you are allowed to get sick too. But there is truth in the saying “Doctors make lousy patients.” From day one in medical training, the unspoken message is that calling in sick is for wimps. COVID may have changed this but we still need to take better care of ourselves and encourage this in our colleagues too.
Best,
GME Wellness Committee
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