Welcome to Chief Complaint, a new STAT+ column from Frances Mei Hardin, M.D. A former ear, nose, and throat surgeon, she writes about the many challenges facing those who practice medicine in a time of great change.
In some clinical settings, resident physicians have to ask for permission to use the restroom. You read that correctly: Many of these people are approaching or in their 30s, they all have M.D.s and other graduate degrees, and they are still requesting permission to accommodate basic tasks in Maslow’s hierarchy, such as leaving to grab a bite of food or drink, or use the restroom.
And when the beginning of training is marked by infantilizing treatment, even as their responsibility for patient lives quickly grows, it can often lead to something plaguing medicine: learned helplessness, a psychological state wherein a person stops trying to change an unfavorable or unsavory situation because they believe that they have no control over the outcome, even when they do.