Dr Nicholas Faint – medicine: ‘easy’ to practice, difficult to integrate?

Medicine – superficially, it appears simple enough for the stereotypical medical student (driven with a sprinkling of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder). There are learning objectives, examinations and key performance indicators that need to be achieved in order to advance. The same can be said for fellowship training; don’t fail a rotation, complete workplace-based assessments, pass summative assessments and collect your letters. Pretty straightforward, right? 

I need help, but I’m worried about what will happen if I ask

Doctors are in a unique position. They encourage patients to seek help and treatment for mental health conditions, but are less likely to actually seek help themselves. This is despite the fact that Australian and international studies generally report doctors having higher rates of mental health conditions than the general population.