Summary: Episode 8: Are you a stressed out resident? What about a medical student or Pre-Med that wants a leg up on what your about to get in to? Well, Dr. Dan discusses the first peer-reviewed article on medial education: Sources of Stress for Residents and Recommendations for Programs to Assist Them. Let's face it, if becoming a doctor was easy, more people would want to do it. It can be said that the long premedical journey is a game of attrition, but that the real tests don't come until later. Of course, when your a Pre-Med student you don't want to hear that... In fact, when we went to Welcome Weekend at my medical school in 2003, they gave us T-shirts that said lke "And you thought the hardest part of medical school was getting in...".Ha! No doubt about it, this life is tough. Most medical blogs and interviews end there, unfortunately, and don't go into detail about exactly what is so hard about medical education. Well, that's exactly what this audio podcast is about! Dr. Dan reviews the article on Sources of Stress of Residents, the first of his educational series. As a preview, there are three main categories of stress in medical education: situational, personal and professional. Situational stress in medical residency: * inordinate hours * sleep deprivation * excessive work load * overbearing clerical and administrative duties * inadequate support from allied health professionals * too many difficult patients * conditions for learning that are less than optimal Personal stress as a medical resident: * family - good or bad * financial issues * limited free time to relax or develop new support systems * psychosocial concerns * inadequate social skills Professional stress as a resident and medical student: * responsibility for patient care * supervision of more junior residents and students * difficult patients and problems * information overload * career planning in an tumultous reform environment What stresses you that is not on this list? Answer in the comment field below...
