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DANmode 17 hours ago

You’ve underlined the problem.

From the first week of school, you are all taught that the good doctor is the one that can stay awake and autopilot paperwork for 48+ hours.

That’s a nonstarter - it’s simply broken from the beginning.

> to be fully deployed... leads to better patient outcomes and safety.

Respectfully: no.

There is no other human resource-planning concept on the planet that says using 100% of resources all of the time, or running to failure, is the safest method for the customer (patient).

You guys messed up; your members are noticing, but instead of spending time cleaning up your own house, you want to educate the public?

No: get your stumbling behemoth of an “organization” under control, please.

theotherzod 15 hours ago | parent [-]

apologies for the confusion, by "fully deployed" I meant fully able to exercise clinical judgement - which requires adequate rest. If understaffing forces back-to-back night shifts and that becomes standard, well you clearly recognize the risk to patient safety just as well. My point is - putting hard limits and minimums on rest, forces staffing choices and this is something physician collective bargaining/organising can help with and it concerns you as a patient.

Regarding "the good doctor" and accepting a near-constant state of fatigue... this is not a personal choice, and it shouldn't be treated as such (wrapped into the box of "the price of this qualification/profession" type of stories). From my experience and I don't claim to be the authority on understanding all aspects of this problem, it's 1. part structural - not enough people (AMA's anti-expansion positions really didn't help here, true) and high demand... and 2. part cultural: medicine has normalised "heroic" endurance which makes it convenient to focus on economics and not see fatigue for what it is - safety risk. The cultural narrative isn't exclusive to medicine.

anyway, I hope community appreciates a perspective from the other side of that organisation, I was hoping to illustrate we ultimately share the same goal - better patient outcomes and safety.

DANmode 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Do you share the same goal enough to walk until it’s more people are being cared for properly?

Not trying to personally attack - it’s a question I’d like to gently ask anyone who empathizes from within.

Unfortunately there’s only so much individuals can do - we must lean on each other to really review.