Long hours and low pay contributing to residents’ frustration
Residents at the University of Washington staged a “sick in” recently in order to get medical care many said they had put off for too long. The residents are in the midst of renegotiating contracts with the University, and one of the points of contention has been the wellness of residents who feel compelled to forego their own healthcare in order to fulfill their residency requirements.
You may have read some of our other posts regarding some of the effect of physicians being overworked. The condition starts in medical school or residency programs, and simply carries over into practice.
Physicians are increasingly the subject of research on burnout and mental health. Residents subject to collective bargaining agreements, in turn, are pushing for more sustainable medical practices and physician wellness. The pressures of raising and maintaining a family, paying down student loan debt, and working long hours are very real, and the residents are finding it increasingly difficult to manage. For example, UWMC residents are complaining that salaries and stipend fall far below that required to live in Seattle.
Another element to this regards the type of student that can afford to attend a residency program like UW: increasingly students must be from and rely on their higher socioeconomic backgrounds to make things work until they can enter private practice. One resident noted that educating residents similar to the patient population is important because “We have a lot of data in medicine that indicates representative doctors treat patients better and we think it’s really important we’re recruiting people here at UW that are the best residents for our patients.”
It goes without saying that overworked and burned out physicians are not in the position to provide the best care. The ramifications for patients can be devastating. We hope that the parties come to a resolution that helps everyone.
Read more about the “sick in” here: Residents Stage ‘Sick-In’ to Protest Stalled Contract Negotiations
“We’ve Reached a Breaking Point:” Hundreds of Residents Strike for 15 Minutes Across Seattle
Read our previous posts about physician burn out:
DO LONG WORK HOURS FOR MEDICAL RESIDENTS JEOPARDIZE PATIENTS?
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS WORKING LONG HOURS ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO A FORM OF AMNESIA
ELECTRONIC RECORDS MAY BE CONTRIBUTING TO PHYSICIAN BURNOUT
REDUCED HOURS IN RESIDENCY DOES NOT CORRELATE WITH REDUCED QUALITY OF CARE
DOCTORS MAY BE MAKING HOUSE CALLS AGAIN (WITH A TECHNOLOGICAL TWIST, OF COURSE)
