Notes:

As a medical student there is the strong possibility of finding yourself in the position of a regular helpless by-stander. Wanting to do something but obviously unable to. The situation can become dramatically worse as an intern, when not only do you want to help, but you are expected to, but frequently lack the training or experience to be effective. In these cases the sense of hopelessness can be joined by a sense of personal inadequacy, despair and shame.

I said earlier that being a blubbering mess was not a good look for a blokey policeman, unfortunately medico’s also frequently set up a culture that excludes those that aren’t “just getting on with the job”.

Being a young doctor is no easy business. Not only trauma, but 24 hour shifts, high reponsibility but low power and life and death decisions that will inevitably go wrong occassionally. Perhaps this will have changed by the time you guys get through, but I doubt it.

There is barely a year that goes by when some intern or resident in New South Wales doesn’t commit suicide. Very often their colleagues and closest friends had no idea they were finding life difficult.