Pending Appendicectomy: a Personal Experience and Review of a Doctor's Own Illness
Overview
Overview
Authors
Authors
Affiliations
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract
Doctors will inevitably 1 day become patients. Whether as an acute emergency or as part of routine screening, doctors often find it difficult to recognise and act on their own healthcare needs. This article aims to provide a personal account and reflections from the point of view of a doctor in denial about his acute appendicitis, and a friend and fellow colleague's attempts to convince him to seek help. We review the challenges, learning points and literature about why doctors ignore their health needs, both physical and psychological, and suggest potential changes to tackle this issue based on the current literature, support networks and personal experiences.
References
1.
Marshall E
. Doctors' health and fitness to practise: treating addicted doctors. Occup Med (Lond). 2008; 58(5):334-40.
DOI: 10.1093/occmed/kqn081.
View
2.
Gautam M, MacDonald R
. Helping physicians cope with their own chronic illnesses. West J Med. 2001; 175(5):336-8.
PMC: 1071615.
DOI: 10.1136/ewjm.175.5.336.
View
3.
Brooks S, Gerada C, Chalder T
. Review of literature on the mental health of doctors: are specialist services needed?. J Ment Health. 2011; 20(2):146-56.
DOI: 10.3109/09638237.2010.541300.
View
4.
Kay M, Mitchell G, Del Mar C
. Doctors do not adequately look after their own physical health. Med J Aust. 2004; 181(7):368-70.
DOI: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2004.tb06329.x.
View
5.
McKevitt C, Morgan M, Dundas R, Holland W
. Sickness absence and 'working through' illness: a comparison of two professional groups. J Public Health Med. 1997; 19(3):295-300.
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubmed.a024633.
View