Staying strong

Day 30 of being unlawfully detained after working hours, and surviving.

So much hype initially about doctors working hours but it's dying down again. Today I read in the newspaper that someone said the long working hours in housemanship is meant to train young doctors to get use to the long working hours.

I don't deny that we need the training but we also need to remember that doctors are human beings, not robots or animals. We all need rest, otherwise God would not have asked the Jews to obey the Sabbath command.

Many people in the public probably do not understand what some house officers go through until they go through it themselves or when someone they know or in their family are in the same problem. My training is good, I don't deny it, and I am grateful to the seniors and specialists and staff who facilitate my training to be a good doctor, but is it worth risking my mental and physical health by working 36 hours a day when I'm on call, and 12 hours a day when I'm not on call?

I'm considered blessed because I have my family members to do my laundry, prepare my meals, come home to a hot shower, but some of my colleagues who are staying away from home go back to a dormitory, cold shower, have to find their own food, pay their own bills, do their own laundry. How are we to do that when we have to go back everyday at 8p.m even on weekends and public holidays?

If someone says that we deserve it because we are getting paid RM 3K per month as new graduates, then I'd like to invite the person to study 5 years in medical school, and work as a doctor with these working hours, be distanced from your family, friends, and be oppressed by seniors who are living in the past. You can have my pay anytime in exchange for my working life.

Yes, I knew before I entered medical school that life would be tough as a medical doctor. Yes, I know that what I am going through now is for the benefit of my training to be a better, competent doctor so I can serve the public better. Yes, my family knew what they were sending me into and they protested. Yet I made that choice to serve the public.

My conscience is clear. I do what I do, for God, and for the people. I have no plans to go into private service as soon as my 5 years of compulsory service is done in the government, because I want to serve the people who cannot afford private fees. I have had enough of cases coming in from the private hospital where the doctors did a poor job of treating the patients, and they refer the patients to us to clean up their mess, which usually ends up with the patient being in poor conditions and their families dismayed and broken. These patients end up staying for weeks in our hospitals as we try our level best to nurse them back to the best that they can be.

I've read really LOUSY radiological reports from the private sector that actually doesn't help me at all in treating or diagnosing the patients, and it disgusts me to think that these poor patients paid like RM 300 for a lousy report and sometimes unwarranted radiological investigation. I know not all in the private sector is the same as there are some good doctors out there too, but my experience so far has not been able to convince me otherwise.

I really have high respect for all the specialists and doctors who continue to serve in the public sector, and the national cardiac center selflessly. But I think we have to be forward thinking and not backward thinking. We can produce competent doctors by teaching them well, and encouraging them to have the right attitude. By doing so, we will not only be able to indirectly get them to want to serve in the public sector longer, but also to achieve our goal of passing down knowledge to them to help them make better judgment in treating patients, colleagues and administration of staff. And the government can finally stop complaining they are short of doctors.

These kind of doctors will be respected for their firmness, fairness and their competency. Instilling fear and throwing tantrums or yelling only makes us try to not make them angry or upset them, but outside, we have no respect for people like that. We would be working just for the sake of working instead of enjoying our work. Maybe the government should start encouraging or making it mandatory for the seniors to go for psychological and emotional tests first. Leaders need to lead the way right? It starts from the top.

We are very much encouraged by doctors who teach us properly with patience and are approachable. Only with these kind of seniors are we not afraid to ask questions when we are in doubt or unsure of something or stuck in a difficult procedure, and only with this kind of confidence, will we make LESS mistakes that will result in LESS patients suffering. Throwing new doctors into the deep end of the pool to learn to swim on their own is sometimes good, but don't complain when they make mistakes, because that is the ultimate result of the decision to let them learn to swim on their own as each individual learns at a different pace.

Maybe we need to come up with a firm mandate on house officer training in black and white, and what we can and cannot do. That way, less people will get oppressed and we as house officers will know our rights. At the moment, I can only hope and pray that my generation of doctors will learn to be forward thinking people and not continue to live in the dark.

In times like these, many young doctors needs encouragement. For me, I have it from God and my family, and for that I am truly grateful :)

"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Joshua 1:9

"So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41: 10