Posts 2020-07-04
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2020-07-04

I complain a lot at work. It’s usually good-natured, and happens because I’m talkative at baseline. But as much as possible, I try to avoid bringing my complaints about the hospital home or to my non-medical friends. Only recently have I been sharing some of my more traumatic experiences with my fiancé. I think I do this in an effort to protect them, because non-medical folks don’t interface with trauma with nearly the same frequency that we do. I’m lucky enough to have great friends in the program who I can rely on for emotional support. As far as outside help goes, I’ve been to therapy for residency-related ‘processing’ before but felt like I was just traumatizing my therapist lmao.

Sometimes, I feel guilty for being a “feeler.” The medical field normalizes messed up ish because a lot of times, we’re too busy to process or properly sit with our experiences. I’m the kind of person who needs a little extra time to reflect. That’s a huge part of why I draw these comics. So if you’re a healthcare worker who is a “feeler” like me - it’s okay to go have that bathroom cry. It’s normal to go home and feel awful after a bad shift. We’re human, and our ability to still feel for our patients and ourselves is what will help us maintain our empathy. In the meantime, find those people outside of medicine who can help you keep things in perspective and remind you that, no, what you’re seeing every day isn’t normal.

(Shoutout to @edna.md, a fave coresident who was brought into my life by fate and is an absolute queen.) #comic #webcomic #coronavirus #resident #intern #inpatient #doctor #relatable #womeninmedicine #blackdoctors #graphicmedicine #premed #premedmotivation #residency #internalmedicine #medschool #medicine #medicalschool #medlife #md #medstudent #nurse #physician

This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.