As a pre-med or med student, a lot of pressure is upon our shoulders. It is highly competitive study. The struggle to get into medical school is very difficult (44.7% get into med school) and hectic and medical school is difficult just the same. After which countless hours are spent in the hospital caring for patients. Their tight schedules barely leave enough time for personal and social life.
Being a doctor, you normally work around 8-12 hours a day. In that timeframe, doctors are constantly under high stress trying to make rapid diagnoses and preferred treatment without sufficient information while knowing that any error can result in harming the patient.
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| Doctor examines his clipboard while seemingly stressed |
It could be particularly hard to receive a patient with a terrible diagnoses or who dies unexpectedly; the feeling of sympathy, confusion and guilt overwhelms a doctor as they ponder if it was their fault. The high stress that doctors deal with daily is probably the main reason why they have high rates of substance abuse, depression, divorce and the highest suicide rate of than any other profession. Being a doctor and having the privilege to nurse someone back to health is an amazing feeling but with it comes psychological consequences that greatly impacts their lives and wellbeing.
Sources:
Shadowfax. "Dealing with Psychological Stress of Being a Doctor." KevinMD.com. MedPage Today
Professional, 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
Shadowfax. "Dealing with Psychological Stress of Being a Doctor." KevinMD.com. MedPage Today
Professional, 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
Are doctors working for 8-12 hours everyday? Do they have any free time to spent with their loved ones? I really want to know it deeper because I have a friend that wanted to be a doctor. So, I think this is a good information to share with her. Besides, I hope that you would be able to become a great doctor in the future.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you so much for your kind words, and to answer your question, how much a doctor works really depends on their specialty. The number of hours doctors work averages from 50 to 60 hours per week and many doctors have to be on-call at various times throughout the week. Regardless, most doctors find time for family and friends and have an average of 2-4 weeks of vacation time a year. I hope your friend can benefit from this information and good luck to both of you in your careers.
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