My heart is breaking for this lovely 'vital' young lady, and for her family, friends and colleagues.
Thirty years ago, this could have been me.
My first four years after qualifying as a doctor were unimaginably stressful, exhausting and traumatic.
I don't think anyone, who has not experienced this first hand, can begin to imagine the pressures a junior hospital doctor is under.
Looking back, I don't know how I survived it,
or why I didn't walk away.
For me, there was parental pressure.
'Failure' was not an option.
Also, my boyfriend and peers were in the same boat, so we sort of accepted it as 'normal'..
I once worked for 75 hours, a very busy weekend, covering paediatrics, including neonatal care, geriatrics and A&E.
I DIDN'T sleep, or eat. At all.
I had some seriously sick patients, including two babies with life-threatening bacterial meningitis.
Many times, I was under pressure to carry out medical procedures I had never done before.
YES, it was indeed DANGEROUS to have an exhausted, young, inexperienced doctor working under such conditions.
Who was there to complain to??
Senior staff/ consultants had themselves 'served their time' as junior hospital doctors.
We were expected to do the same.
I finished the training.
I then had a family, and worked part-time.
I eventually cracked, when my marriage fell apart ( early retirement, with a 'mental health' diagnosis)
I still have frequent nightmares, about my time as a junior hospital doctor.
I don't often speak of my experiences, people tend to disbelieve me, or assume I'm exaggerating!
A long post, and really just trying to say, I identify very strongly with this young lass, who is the same age as my son.
It is indeed a terrible tragedy, if she has taken her own life.
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raying:
