Unmasking Burnout-Duality.

Abstract

During the first 2.5 years of medical school, I experienced stressors, which seem common among medical students. These included sleep deprivation, long hours spent studying with its associated challenges maintaining work/life balance, learning how to care for patients, and at times, witnessing their death. In addition, I felt the pressure of preparing for the USMLE (U.S. Medical Licensing Examination) Step 1 examination, aware that poor performance might narrow my future career options. Faced with these challenges, I was clearly at risk for burnout. Unfortunately, there was an additional trial I had to endure. As my clerkship year was coming to a close, I learned that my 31-year-old brother was losing his 3-year long fight with colon cancer. The news came just minutes after completing my Step 1 examination, when my mother informed me that he had less than 6 months to live. The man portrayed in the mask (Fig. 1) represents both my brother tiring throughout his fight and my emotional state after completing 6 weeks of USMLE preparation, grinding through a grueling 8-hour test, and receiving the crushing news of the advance of his illness. The healthy side of the mask represents his fighting so hard, and for so long, to ward off “The Reaper” seen on the left side. Although my brother is the inspiration for this piece, I am also aware that this mask could represent the battle any patient, family member, physician, or student might face. Each and every one of us struggle through times when all, or part of us, must fight stress, despair, grief, and even death in order to survive. Thinking about this from my perspective as a medical student leads me to wonder what awaits me and my colleagues after our 4-year struggle is complete, and we receive our diplomas. What is on the other side? It appears that our duty will be to continue to fight these same battles with the added stress of being primarily responsible for decisions that may mean the difference between our patients living or dying. Few understand the sacrifice made to endure the gauntlet of mental, physical, and emotional blows that occur over a career in medicine. During medical school, such battles come early and often, with magnified significance. Nevertheless, this trying time has helped me to realize the love of family, to be more aware of our sacred responsibility to our patients, and to maintain my focus on the end goal—helping and healing my patients until the next dawn breaks and the fight begins again. In the face of such a daunting task, I am sustained by my brother’s spirit and the belief that “No One FIGHTS Alone!” Family Medicine Residency, Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, 100 Brewster Boulevard, Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, NC 28547. This article was written by the author while he was a student at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland. doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00433 FIGURE 1. The mask and “No One Fights Alone!”