Usually I mark #ResidentAwarenessWeek with a cheeky post about us needing awareness before we can ask people for appreciation

This year that feels insufficient.

Join me for a different take on Resident Awareness - A 🧵
Resident WORKING CONDITIONS Awareness

We are a large proportion of frontline MDs. We regularly work wildly long hours. In Ontario that includes up to 7 26h call shifts and two full weekends in a 28d block.

Post call is often our only time for appts and personal care.
Our shifts can be relentlessly busy without time to eat, drink, or sit down.

On call residents in ICU were noted to be more oliguric than their patients.

This study is meant to be lighthearted but represents how we ignore our physiological needs

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Driving home after shifts longer than 16h puts us at increased risk of MVCs. Dig a little in google and you will find results of trainee driving fatalities related to post-work exhaustion

idealmedicalcare.org/sleep-deprived…
Consider Resident INFERTILITY Awareness

Medical training requires commitment such that many delay relationships and family through their 20s + 30s with real consequences

feminem.org/2019/02/27/the…

time.com/5484506/fertil…
Add in Resident BULLYING Awareness

Bullying and harassment are all too common in medicine.

Residents are particularly vulnerable bc of power dynamics and c/o future evals and jobs.

Systematic review shows >50% of residents have experienced bullying
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
A landmark study of gen surg residents in 2018 (with 99% response rate!) showed 30% of residents experienced verbal abuse - most commonly coming from attending physicians.

nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
Abuse and mistreatment were more commonly reported by female trainees, and by trainees with children.

Burnout and suicidality in the survey cohort correlated with more frequent experience of mistreatment in a stepwise fashion
On that topic - Resident Suicide Awareness

Even prior to COVID it had been well established that physicians have inc rates of death by suicide

Despite knowing SI is not uncommon in medical trainees we do not track resident suicides
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
The pandemic has magnified work stress and burnout risk factors across all health professions

academic.oup.com/occmed/article…
Two recent HCW suicides in Canada should cause us all to take pause.

globalnews.ca/news/7598494/s…

globalnews.ca/news/7569318/c…
#BellLetsTalkDay stirred up a lot of discussion about the upcoming Internal Medicine licensing exam - as residents contacted @Royal_College to ask for accommodation given they have had several months of increased clinical demand caring for wards of #COVID patients
#FrontlineAndForgotten
While not part of this cohort, I felt strongly about amplifying their message as they were advocating for what I believed was reasonable accommodation

At the heart of my motivation was specific concerns that I initially felt I couldn't talk about... Maybe bc of stigma.

Which is precisely why I'm going to say it now.
I am worried that proper attention will not be paid to RESIDENT AWARENESS until too late

I am worried that my colleagues are being pushed to their breaking points

I am worried of losing friends and colleagues to suicide
While I appreciate the thanks for #ResidentAwarenessWeek I want to direct attention towards systemic issues in our training that put young brilliant people in near inhumane working conditions.

We must do better.

Residency training should not be a health risk for residents

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