Are Residents in Canada Overworked and Underpaid?

[LittleDaisy]

9 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

about medicine or about overall functioning of ward work etc etc. I mean it was pretty variable for me as well  - some CTU staff were amazing and some less so. A lot clerkship seemed more about how to fit into the hospital system and look/feel like you belonged there over strictly the medicine part of things. 

I think that 2 year of clerkship with a new rotation every 1-2 months require some adaptation time at beginning (usually 1 week). Most of the time you are just trying to figure out how the new rotation works, and how to fit in with the health professionals & residents who are overworked & staff physicians who may be amazing or completely don't care about you  

[JohnGrisham]

14 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

about medicine or about overall functioning of ward work etc etc. I mean it was pretty variable for me as well  - some CTU staff were amazing and some less so. A lot clerkship seemed more about how to fit into the hospital system and look/feel like you belonged there over strictly the medicine part of things. 

Yes, exactly the actual "medicine" aspects.  Some rotations, or weeks, i definitely was simply just relying on prior knowledge and functioning as-is, without any new knowledge acquisition on the wards, or informal teaching etc.   Just don't get in the way, present your findings(to then be completely ignored), and rinse repeat.    But other times was not as bad for sure! 

I can see why there's a huge mantra in the US for clerkship of "get the required work done and get home to study UWORLD". Even on clinical heavy, on the ward rotations...i still think i actually learned more "medicine" from being at home, left to my own devices. But thats likely just a product of busy clinicians, who dont have the time or energy to teach around cases your seeing. 

[Edict]

.

[rmorelan]

8 hours ago, LittleDaisy said:

I think that 2 year of clerkship with a new rotation every 1-2 months require some adaptation time at beginning (usually 1 week). Most of the time you are just trying to figure out how the new rotation works, and how to fit in with the health professionals & residents who are overworked & staff physicians who may be amazing or completely don't care about you  

Ha I would agree with that That isn't to say that all that isn't actually extremely important. The ones that learned all the rules not in the books (even it isn't obvious to them that they have) are the ones that have a leg up standing out best in clerkship and electives. 

[NutritionRunner]

On 9/16/2018 at 6:02 PM, Lactic Folly said:

Clerks are students, not employees (unlike residents who have dual status). The work that they do is basically hands-on training, and is supervised by residents and staff, who also see the patient, check the student's work, and are 100% responsible for any errors or omissions. 

It's just an odd concept since I never really expected pay as a clerk - any stipend was a bonus, as there are other professions where students do unpaid practicums as part of their training. Of course, clerks aren't useless, and often they can spend the most time talking to patients which is very valuable. I was just curious what services wouldn't function properly without clerks (except perhaps when extra retractors are needed in the OR). Are there still many services where clerks do solo call without resident backup?

Ref. House of God Law #11.

This.  As a dietetic intern, in one position, I essentially spent 3 months seeing clients independently, meaning that the dietitians I was working with weren’t in the room with me, and while they had to co-sign my notes, they didn’t have any direct contact with the clients I saw. I wasn’t paid anything for that work, and didn’t receive any stipend (in fact, I was paying for the ‘priviledge’ of working as an entry-level dietitian). There were even two clients I saw completely through the nutrition care process, from assessment through to discharge, with no direct involvement of the dietitians I was working with. Sure, the dietitians were there as backup if I had questions, was unsure as to how to proceed (and they certainly were there when I had clients who I didn’t feel I was able to properly provide care for), etc., but in many cases I was working as a novice dietitian, without any compensation (and I was paying to do this work, instead of being paid or even receiving a stipend. Granted, I was only working 40 hours/week, but it was still uncompensated work).

[rmorelan]

every once in a while someone, perhaps at an attempt of humour, belittles another profession usually outside of medicine on the forum, and I have to clean up the posts etc. 

People go into a wide range of fields for a variety of reasons, and in particular Dietitians shouldn't be considered some second rate professional choice (sigh). Let's keep it friendly here people. 

Edited November 13, 2021 by rmorelan

[jb24]

Yes, residents are underpaid and in debt (at least those that don't come from $$$).