Who has the best work ethic? The doctor who does 9 surgeries while injected with a painkiller for appendicitis? Or the cardiologist who vomits 4 pints of blood after a 64-hour shift? The pulmonologist running an ICU during a life-threatening asthma attack? Or the orthopaedist who completes a total hip replacement during active labor? The new intern on NICU with a hemoglobin of 6? Or the OB who has an MI during a C-section then heads down the hall for a cardiac cath and bypass? The nocturnist vomiting all night before hsi own admission for acute renal failure? Or the OB who delivers her baby and gets up two hours later to deliver twins? Maybe it’s the dehydrates ED doc on a 24-hour shift with a fractured pelvis doubled over in pain from gallstones who lands in the OR after never calling in sick in 18 years. ALL TRUE STORIES.
There is no winner when we work our doctors to death.
Stop glorifying physician self-abuse while mandating self-care.
