I was chatting with a patient whose daughter is a family practice doc now. He said that in her med school class of 300, there were 3 suicides in her time in med school. I was shocked by that, though maybe I shouldn't be. The solution was to advise students to get a therapist at the start of med school and yes, by all means, but that seems like gross negligence in ignoring the structures of medical education and culture of medical education that exacerbate the problem.
I can say that my medical school did close to absolutely everything right. There were
Classmates who had real difficulties and got support, in very personal ways, from senior doctors in leadership roles. The university of Rochester is an exceptional place, in American medicine. But the love and support for us was unconditional, in my experience.
I am so happy you had that. I don't carry a formal mental health diagnosis, but my wellbeing (particularly emotional and spiritual) suffered mightily during my medical education, but it's such a frog in boiling water situation that it took a long time to notice.
Thankful for URMC. I try to spread the biopsycosocial good word....cause we need intact healers to be great at healing. Glad you mentioned spiritual--that also needs to be nourished.
What did they do at URMC that was special and felt supportive to you? How would you support healers to become whole healers? (I know that is a monster question, but I'd love to hear your thoughts even if it's tip of the iceberg). I suspect that a very common reason people go into medicine as opposed to a different helping profession or a different lucrative profession is to prove their self-worth to someone, so I think we come in sort of wounded and often the culture of medicine exacerbates those self-worth wounds. I did not really realize the importance of spiritual wellness until I realized how much I was dragging around during COVID. I was definitely a weird combination of spiritual seeker and skeptic before that.
I was chatting with a patient whose daughter is a family practice doc now. He said that in her med school class of 300, there were 3 suicides in her time in med school. I was shocked by that, though maybe I shouldn't be. The solution was to advise students to get a therapist at the start of med school and yes, by all means, but that seems like gross negligence in ignoring the structures of medical education and culture of medical education that exacerbate the problem.
I can say that my medical school did close to absolutely everything right. There were
Classmates who had real difficulties and got support, in very personal ways, from senior doctors in leadership roles. The university of Rochester is an exceptional place, in American medicine. But the love and support for us was unconditional, in my experience.
I am so happy you had that. I don't carry a formal mental health diagnosis, but my wellbeing (particularly emotional and spiritual) suffered mightily during my medical education, but it's such a frog in boiling water situation that it took a long time to notice.
Every day I am
Thankful for URMC. I try to spread the biopsycosocial good word....cause we need intact healers to be great at healing. Glad you mentioned spiritual--that also needs to be nourished.
What did they do at URMC that was special and felt supportive to you? How would you support healers to become whole healers? (I know that is a monster question, but I'd love to hear your thoughts even if it's tip of the iceberg). I suspect that a very common reason people go into medicine as opposed to a different helping profession or a different lucrative profession is to prove their self-worth to someone, so I think we come in sort of wounded and often the culture of medicine exacerbates those self-worth wounds. I did not really realize the importance of spiritual wellness until I realized how much I was dragging around during COVID. I was definitely a weird combination of spiritual seeker and skeptic before that.