Sigh… another good reason to live in Huntsville. In terms of salary value, Huntsville ranks #2 in the nation behind New London, Conn and ahead of Baltimore. The “interestingness” of the city leaves a great deal to be desired, but at least there’s a silver lining. Hyuck hyuck.
“There has been much hand-wringing over the dangers of medical residents’ grueling schedules. Doctors-in-training often forgo sleep entirely, racking up as many as 30 work hours in a single stretch.”
Full article: Are residents overworked?
While there seems to be no easy solution or answer to the continuous hours that medical residents are on call, there still needs to be taken to consideration what life after residency is like.
Hours have been reduced to 80/week, and 30/shift; which I believe to be agreeable. However, if plans to further reduce hours to is put into place, the rules will have unforeseen effects that could possible ripple through the entire health system. It could result in residencies taking longer to complete; 3 years coming 4, 4 becoming 5….which would result in a gap in graduating residents. And true, it is most likely that a person on hour 20 is less efficient than they were on hour 2. But life after residency, as a full fledged licensed physician, has hours that are also painstakingly long, without the controversy.
Will less hours cause less mistakes/less cost? Maybe..Maybe not.
No easy solution.
What you think?
After being here for 3 weeks, I am beginning to understand some of the finer points of working for a local Chinese firm.
Authority and status is very important here. Its always crucial to know your place in the firm. For instance, every attorney here is referred to by their last name and the attorney title (Chen “lv shi”, Li “lv shi”, etc). Unfortunately for the accountant, she is simply referred to directly as ”kuai ji”, or “accountant”. Her name isn’t even mentioned, but she doesn’t seem to mind. The cleaning lady is referred to as “ah yi”, which means something like auntie. I have tried to ask everyone to simply call me by my first name instead of the full ”lv shi” title, but i now feel that in doing so, I may have reduced my status and authority in this firm from attorney to perhaps an assistant or intern.
Of course this all makes sense. The US is founded on individualism, and we like to be distinguished by our person rather than our current placement in life. We don’t like generalizations because we find them limiting. But China is a place of structure and tradition, and understanding your place in that structure allows everyone to save face, lest you tread upon the toes of a superior.
So the logical way to think about working in China should be to 1) know your place then 2) do your job.
Of course situations occur when doing your job may require you to abandon your station; such as when you are proposing certain changes to the current business model or concept. Well tread lightly when you do so. While in your mind you are only thinking about improving the company, your superiors may perceive it as an effort to undermine their authority by uprooting the work they have done. Chinese employers are often extremely defensive and very slow to change due to this.
I have noticed that Chinese employers often allow a certain leeway to a foreign who looks distinctly un-Chinese. I believe in this case the Chinese employer feels that because the foreigner is not really a part of the Chinese social structure and therefore nonthreatening. In this case the Chinese employer might even manage to get to know the foreigner as an individual person rather than just another minion. Its all about expectations. If your boss expects you to be a part of the structure but you don’t adjust well, then you are going to struggle. If the boss doesn’t expect you to be a part of the structure, then you are suddenly free to fully utilize your own creativity.
The end of night has arrived. The dream of an uneventful night came to fruition once over the 31 nights, but did happen. Now is time to move on to different responsibilities. Now is time to integrate back with civilization, during the times when the sun arises. And enjoy the comfort of my own home and mattress. Alas back to normal circadian activity.
During this month, this popped up in the news:
“Women in Denmark who developed breast cancer after many years of working night shifts have received compensation…”
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/338/mar18_1/b1152
Does this mean that every single physician, whom in training and in practice, have frequently worked night shifts, or any other job that has required night shifts, will be compensated in some way?
At last, my dream has come along. The hectic darkness at rest tonight. It could come at not a better time. As there is a balance of sleep that needs to be compensated. Now that the dream has come to fruition once, I know that it exists. The hope of it coming true again is slim, but there is hope.
The night is young, the work is persistent. The month long theme continues. Myself growing tired, but resilient. Trying not to get the blues. The downpour of rain. Seems to have calmed the night. Has helped keep me sane. And keep alive the light. I will continue to dream. For that night uneventful No matter how futile it may seem…
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