MAKING A DOCTOR: Exhausted, hungry and making life-or-death decisions

The Enterprise of Brockton, Mass.
www.enterprisenews.com
www.makingadoctor.com
By Jessica Scarpati
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
BROCKTON — It was the first time in days that sunlight, not florescent lighting, had shone into Dr. James Knutsons bloodshot eyes.
He shuffled past the morning landscape of the hospital in Brockton— hurried nurses, families talking in hushed tones on cell phones and staff members on smoke breaks — as the automatic doors parted for him.
Knutson had turned off his pager after finishing his overnight shift, but he continued to feel its vibration pulse through his fingertips.
Sleep had become a foreign concept. He had been jolted awake several times to respond to pages from nurses who wanted him to attend to a patient, verify a medication or authorize some other order because he was the only resident on call.
The half-dozen surgeries he had assisted on the previous morning were a distant memory. His day had started at 6 a.m., greeting patients in the pre-operative room — an hour after his alarm had roused him.
He had spent the morning clamping arteries and navigating organs with leftover Halloween candy as his only nourishment.
By the time his red sneakers touched the pavement outside Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital, Knutsons body had begun to rebel against his neglect.
He felt woozy. Everything ached. His stomach gnawed at his insides.
It was the day after the presidential election. He entered the hospital before polls opened and left after the country had picked a new president.
Knutson, 30, one of eight residents completing his intern year at Signature, had wanted to vote.
Someone was supposed to cover for him so he could go to the polls — but, well, now that he thought about it, Knutson wasnt sure what happened to that person.
Voting had become another part of life that he just didnt have time for anymore. And at this point, he was too tired to be upset.
Workplace stress is not unique to the medical profession, but the profound physical and emotional demands inherent to its training years — residency — raise questions about its consequences.
How could someone underfed, overworked and exhausted be allowed to make life-or-death decisions? And moreover, who would want to?
I think we live lives of denial, Knutson said. Its hard to know personally if your concentration or decision-making is waning.

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[joanbird]

@blueskyrider008 I have no doubt in the profession! For me its the most noble job on earth I'm proud to be a med student and I will be a proud and good doctor. But I will be a good and social human being too!

Lol, it's just finals week and I'm again studying till the early morning but this time because I've been partying the whole semester and now have to catch up some stuff :-)

[blueskyrider008]

@joanbird my company's CFO practiced internal medicine at Kaiser for 6 years, then quit because of the job.

I hope this helps.

[cutekitten12]

wait, so this is for residency students only right? i hear most resident students get the worst of the wrost. oooh man, i really need a back up besides going to med school

[joanbird]

Bro or Sis it's not worth it! My whole life I was a BAMF at school I rocked every class I was in. I had free choice of university through to my score at the acceptance test. And I kept going during the first semester.

But then I realised this will ruin me. I had no life. I've seen my friends only during classes. They all went for a drink and I went studying. That's not it. I had to realise I'm no fu__ing genious. So I'm changing now! All the best my colleague, chose the right priorities!

[persiano2]

:**( second year medical student here, it's 4:30AM just came home from the library to eat real quick while I browse the web and watch some TV for 30 minutes then it's back to studying till 7AM. Sleep till 12 then class/patients. I can only fathom a shred of what you're going through but you are my hero. Hang in there and wish me luck.