July EOM: The Real Problem with Internship
/Greetings Residents!
Happy July! As we begin a new year in american GME, you are all in new roles of responsibility. This exciting time seems a good opportunity to post a recent Op-Ed piece about the tradeoff between work-hours and clinical patient care needs. Perhaps, as the author argues, we would be better off with an educational system that focussed on teaching and continuity of care of a smaller number of patients (not sure this is historically accurate) or our redesigned care in ‘shifts’ with higher emphasis on throughput and efficiency.
Is it better to be cared for by a tired intern who knows your case or a rested intern who does not?
Please post a response to this very brief article sometime during the month of July, as well as (at least) one response to another residents writings.
As you know, Exploration of Medicine (EOM) is a (mostly) monthly exercise created in 2011 (!!) to provide some space for thought and discussion on issues related to leadership, professionalism, and ethics that might fall beyond our usual residency activities. Posts need not be long, but should be thoughtful responses to the source material.
Thanks everyone, and welcome to new New Year!
Jeff