Lifestyle affecting health?
Started by Arijos0222
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Circadian rhythm issues tend to be overhyped by folks who simply dont want to put in the time to be a doctor. Physicians don't die younger than the average population. They don't suffer more illness. other professionals who dont do overnight shifts tend to have similar rates of psychiatric ailments.
Working nights periodically isn't that bad. Working 80 hours a week isn't that bad. Would I like to sleep more and work less? Sure. But there's no way I'd have seen and done and learned some of the things I've seen, done or learned without the schedule I've endured. It's a necessary evil. Being alone on the wards at night, managing patients for very long stretches of time forces you to be the decision maker. It's when you learn to be a doctor.
And I note that you posted this at 3 am EST...🙂
I'm a late bird. Do you feel like the sacrifices you've made (i.e. not having as much time as peers outside of medicine, nurses and some PA's who work 3,12 hour shifts) was all worth it? I mean I just don't see how docs or surgeons can have enough time to go out and do lots of recreational things when they want to.
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Do you feel like the sacrifices you've made (i.e. not having as much time as peers outside of medicine, nurses and some PA's who work 3,12 hour shifts) was all worth it? I mean I just don't see how docs or surgeons can have enough time to go out and do lots of recreational things when they want to.
Although I am still a first year college student, I would like to bring to the discussion that long hours put in at the hospital or even school for that matter is just a part of the process of being a doctor and to be more specific, a professional in general. In my opinion a physician and perhaps many of the folks that are in the field of medicine display the utmost amount of professionalism.
Referring back to what the 2nd post said about not being able to learn or experience some of the things that he had without putting in late hours is all part of the give-and-take process. The fact that he was able to do what he did displays the amount of discipline that physicians are able to exert.
Sure you may not be able to partake in all the recreational activities that you want, but as a health care professional, that is sometimes the trade-off. By caring for the patient and doing what you can to ensure their health as the priority, I'm sure a sense of pride that doctors have in their work is sometimes plentiful to keep them going through those long hours of work.
Not a doctor, medical student, or even college student yet but I'd like to weigh in.
Doctors are probably a bit healthier then the population overall. They are more conscious about health and know full well the consequences of various unhealthy actions like smoking and drugs.
As for the circadian rhythm, it varies from speciality to speciality. Surgeons probably have the most limited controlled of their sleep schedule due to being on call. But they survive. Otherwise, we'd be really short of surgeons.
