Memoir of a doctor intern…..day 38

I completed my 30hours shift of no sleep but work today. Started my day yesterday and worked all through to the night . the night was very busy , so I got no sleep till morning and just crossed over to another day’s work. I actually got to shower at 11am the next day and went back to out patient department.

Today was not only hard and sad, it was also humiliating. I was semiconscious if I can say, and I saw my patients in this state. On more than 15 accounts, my patients caught me dosing while writing. There was a time when I even put my head on the table and slept off during the clerkship. There was my interpreter seated to my right, and then the patient seated right across the doctor’s table. Those small episodes of interpretation, I was sleeping..literally. I talked in my sleep at some point, and the conversation was completely different from what the patient was saying. For another patient, I had to apologise countless times, but even after the apology, I still slept off right infront of her.

Many times I realised that my prescriptions and investigations were wrong. I wonder what happened for those cases where I didn’t realise it. There was a patient I sent to do a pelvic urinalysis….. Where was my head? I sent another to the lab with a request form that had names I probably made during my mini clerkship naps.

After about 4 hours of this, my colleague came from ward and offered to cover for me. He told me to go get some rest. And all afternoon he had to iron out all the mistakes I made the entire morning.

This system is failing slowly and the people in power don’t see it. Maybe they see it but they just don’t care. We have complained many times, strikes, peaceful demonstrations, dialogues, but nothing has been done.

Every time we complain about unfair treatment and harsh working environment we face as interns, we get the same response you are not the first ones to go through this. And I have failed to understand how people go through this situation, but when they get into higher offices of power and have the ability to change some of these things, they still go on and watch the situation like it was all very easy and normal.

In the medical sector, intern nurses, pharmacists, midwives and dentists either work in shifts or rest after night duty. But a doctor who works more than all of them is expected to work without shifts, and also to be at work the next day after a night shift of no sleep at all. And in this state, they expect the doctor to make life decisions for the patients he/she is going to see. Who in their right minds would let a sleep and life deprived person make decisions about their life?

May we never be shallow about some of these things when we get into power.