Care for the caregiver

Some very fascinating journal articles have been written over the past few years clearly documenting the increase risk of clinical depression and suicide attempts by medical residents.  When a young person enters medical school he/she has a depression rate similar to the general population. By the time that student becomes a resident, he/she have a much higher rate compared to their peers with one study reporting that 20% of 123 pediatric residents at 3 U.S. children’s hospitals were depressed. These depressed residents made 6.2 times more medication errors than did their non-depressed peers. http://Fahrenkopf AM, Sectish TC, Barger LK, et al. Rates of medication errors among depressed and burnt out residents: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2008;336:488-491.

The long hours, sleep deprivation, social isolation and the (often self imposed) pressures of having to be perfect all the time are a recipe for disaster. Far too often we are… Continue reading →