When Residents Need Health Care: Stigma of the Patient Role

Abstract

Residents' perceived stigma for clinical situations was an influential factor, strongly affecting concern about jeopardizing training status and likelihood of avoiding care at their home institution.

“If You Build It, They Will Come”: Attitudes of Medical Residents and Fellows About Seeking Services in a Resident Wellness Program

“…Men and ethnic/racial minority groups in the general population are less likely to seek counseling, 9,26 while female physicians are less likely to seek care for medical or psychological symptoms owing to concerns about confidentiality or possible stigma. 27,28 This is concerning, since female medical students and physicians report more distress than their male counterparts and are at greater risk for suicide than women in other professions. 3,11 Ethnic or racial differences in distress and attitudes about counseling among physicians are not well researched.…”

“…Female residents and primary care residents were the most likely to express concern about lack of time to access the RWP. Female residents may hesitate to schedule personal health care meetings owing to possible stigma concerns 27,28 or additional time constraints related to family responsibilities post call. Male trainees were more ambivalent than their female colleagues about accessing counseling and questioned the helpfulness of counseling.…”

Professional Integrity and the Role of Medical Students in Professional Self-Regulation

“…These fears were greatest for the most stigmatizing health conditions rather than, for example, the most potentially disabling health conditions, and students consistently preferred care outside of their home institution for stigmatizing conditions. Similar stigmatizing attitudes have also been found among residents [38]. It appears that fears associated with identifying and reporting impairment in colleagues begin early in physician training, and these issues bear careful consideration in fulfilling the responsibility of self-governance by the profession.…”

“Physician Wellness” as Published in Academic Psychiatry

“…Many deeply moving narrative accounts of physicians' experiences with personal illness substantiate this observation [14][15][16][17]. Moreover, many hypothesis-driven empirical studies have determined that having at least some experience as a patient strengthens the priority placed on communication and compassionate practices of resident physicians, for example [18][19][20][21]. The troubling connection between exhaustion and patterns of mistakes or misjudgments in physician, resident, and medical student practice highlights the importance of accepting one's imperfections and vulnerabilities and safeguarding against them so that patient care standards are upheld.…”