Prof Rammya Mathew: Emotional giving as a junior doctor
https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o586
Whenever I watch a TV show about "The Diary of a Discarded Doctor Who Absolutely Laughs", I recall the unforgettable experience of laughter and tears as a primary doctor.
One of the young patients with metastatic cervical cancer was very impressive. She developed a deep friendship with us during her hospital stay, and even tried her best to match me and my intern colleague as lovers. The doctor in charge joked that he could not allow the two of us both on vacation but still looking forward to attending our wedding. Sadly, she tragically passed away on the way home from her treatment, and I am deeply saddened and regretful about that.
I once worked with an overly enthusiastic patient registrar who would also recommend extensive testing with EKGs, chest x-rays, arterial blood gases, etc. for patients with mild runny noses. For this reason, I had to trouble the front-line laboratory and imaging colleagues many times and apologize to them. One day after get off work I decided to text a friend about the hassle, only to send the text message to the registrar by mistake, resulting in a huge embarrassment when I got to work the next day.
The most unforgettable experience in my life is the feeling of having to leave my comfort zone as I embark on a new job. The first time I was on call at the ENT department, I was frantically remembering how to drain a peritonsillar abscess, and when I had to offer this treatment to a patient, I had to learn the technique by watching an instructional YouTube video.
From these experiences, I realized that when I started working and living as a primary doctor, I was completely unprepared to face the physical and mental and emotional stress that followed, the heavy clinical work and the loss of control of my personal life undoubtedly made me A huge personal price was paid. It is worth noting that the current prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among doctors in China is around 14%, which is much higher than the 3-4% prevalence of the general population. Under such circumstances, once the TV program about "The Diary of an Abandoned Doctor" was broadcast, it attracted the attention of a large number of grassroots doctors. I just hope that these experiences will also provide better support for future physicians through these busy but precious times.