Most Doctors Work While Sick, Despite Knowing It's Bad For Patients

An anonymous reader writes: A new survey published in JAMA Pediatrics found that 95% of doctors believe patients are put at risk when doctors work while sick. Despite that, 83% of respondents said they had "come to work with symptoms like diarrhea, fever and respiratory complaints during the previous year." The researchers doing the survey dug into the reasons for this: first of all, given the heavy workload of most doctors, it's very difficult to find others who can take up the slack when one is recovering from an illness. Beyond that, the profession is pervaded by a culture of working through the discomfort and pain of minor maladies. According to a commentary on the research, hospital policies don't help matters — they often incentivize long hours and don't encourage ill workers to leave the premises.

Comments

As a physician...

[NigelTheFrog]

...I can agree this is totally true. Calling in sick does nothing but make my life harder. I feel bad about it, but from a job perspective, the alternative is piss off your co-workers who have to cover for you and get tagged with the reputation that you're lazy and trying to avoid work. Combine that with the need to get a doctor's excuse (another doctor; can't write your own), and it's just not worth it.

Re:As a physician...

[Anonymous Coward]

I've worked as a physician with an IV in my arm during a bout of diarrhea and vomiting I caught from a patient (despite thorough hand washing). I've worked with pneumonia I caught from a patient. Its not always the physician passing the disease to the patient. In my experience it has been more likely for the physician to get what our patients have.

Also as an employee as opposed to a fee for service type physician, there is still the drive to work as to not pass your work onto other physicians. Its part of the mentality of "I can work through anything" similar to why you hear about surgeons working for 30+hrs straight.

Re:As a physician...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cry me a river. The reason why physicians have to work so hard is because the AMA deliberately keeps the supply of doctors small, and deliberately ensures that health care can only be dispensed by their overpaid members. Hospitals and insurance agencies have their own rent seeking arrangements. And half the time, patients come out sicker than they go into the hospital.

Physicians are a necessary evil. Some of them even have good intentions going into the profession. Don't expect any admiration simply for your job title or your self-inflicted working hours. Oh, and your conduct sounds irresponsible.

does it matter?

[NostalgiaForInfinity]

Doctors' offices and hospitals are full of people who carry infections. You already have a high chance (probably around 30%) of coming out with an additional disease to the one you went in with, both from transmission from other patients, and through medical error. One more sick person (the doctor himself) hardly makes a difference.

You need crappier doctors

[penguinoid]

Seriously, if there aren't enough doctors it doesn't matter how good they are, enjoy waiting a month to get emergency* treatment from an overworked doctor who's only going to spend 5 minutes with you. If you drastically reduce the requirements for becoming a doctor, then you'll get prompt treatment from a well-rested doctor who can afford to spend a good long while with you and still charge you less. Sure, they'll make some mistakes... but so do current doctors. Requiring less training might actually reduce the number of mistakes. Especially if the mistakes were of the class of waiting too long due to busy schedules, patients avoiding the hassle, doctors going to work sick/tired, or any of the various effects of not enough doctors.

* there's some conditions that are serious enough that you ought to receive immediate treatment, but don't officially qualify as emergencies.