Volatility in Residency
is something that does not make sense to me. One would think that if a doctor opted for a particular subject for his or her postgraduation, he would be quite enthusiastic to learn everything that could be learned. There being no way better than working in management of patients, one would expect these residents to work as if possessed. Well, it is not so, and that is what does not make sense to me.
There is a trend towards just disappearing from work, without telling a soul about it. The said resident just ceases being seen around some time during duty hours. The mobile phone is switched off. The local guardian does not know where he/she is. The parents are emphatic they have not heard from the resident. The boyfriend, fiancé, or husband as the case may be, also does not know the whereabouts of the missing resident. The co-residents and staff members are worried stiff because the city has its share of crooks and the girl-resident from another part of the country might be in a bad situation. Or she might have been under stress and might have done something like perhaps a suicide. The administration is informed about the disappearance. After a couple of days, it is learnt that the resident is safe with a friend, having gone away because she did not feel like working or something to that effect.
We had this girl who would just go away on a Sunday morning, even if she was on duty. She would regularly do the disappearing trick. The psychiatrist said it was due to difficulty in adjusting to the stressful environment of the hospital.
We had another girl who would disappear similarly. One morning she was woken up by her roommate for going to the wards and working. She got ready and went back to sleep. The roommate woke her again. She left for the ward, but never reached it. After the usual sequence of events, she was found three days later with her brother in a remote town. She said she did not know how she reached the airport. Since she was there, she purchased an air ticket and reached her brother’s place. The parents did not know all this.
This week two girls did the disappearing trick. Both seem to be OK at present.
That they don’t have the responsibility expected of a doctor on duty is upsetting to me as a head of the department. That they don’t care to inform their near and dear ones is upsetting to me as a parent myself. That they don’t care to inform their friends is upsetting to me because it reflects on their poor social quotient and I cannot do anything to help.
