In critical care

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Website: http://www.theage.com.au/national/in-critical-care-20081116-684i.html

Date posted: 09.12.08

From the Age, an article about the grueling conditions facing junior doctors in hospital:

Chanh Thaow just wanted to go to sleep. On a Saturday afternoon in March 2006, the talented trainee surgeon walked into The Alfred hospital, where he worked, for the last time.

Armed with a lethal dose of anaesthetic drugs he had taken from the emergency department, Chanh called his girlfriend about 1.30pm to say goodbye. "I'm so tired, I've worked so hard and I'm not going to get my fellowship," he said to her.

About four hours later, security guards found Chanh in the residents' quarters with five empty phials of the potent drug and an insulin syringe nearby. The 32-year-old, who had trained for 14 years to become a surgeon, was taken to the emergency department, but could not be revived. He had only one more exam to pass to achieve his dream of becoming a surgeon.

According to a coroner, Chanh had failed his first attempt at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons' fellowship exam the previous year and had just found out he was being rotated back to Frankston Hospital, which he knew from experience meant more travel and work pressure.

For many young doctors, Chanh's decision to take his life inside the hospital that arguably ruled his final months sent a powerful message. Despite his history of attempted suicide, many, including Chanh's father, believe the system got the better of him.

Chanh's suicide followed that of another young doctor just three months earlier. In December 2005, Lachlan McIntyre, 29, an intensive care registrar at St Vincent's Hospital, died of an injected mixture of drugs at his North Melbourne home. He was found with a suicide note nearby.

The deaths sparked discussion about the gruelling conditions junior doctors work under, including calls for mandatory limits on the hours they work. But nearly three years on, junior doctors continue to work up to 100 hours a week in a system buckling under unprecedented demand.

 


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News Tags: conditions, fatigue, hospitals, junior doctors

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