The Distress of Internship

Abstract

The ultimate effects of residency training on the personal and professional lives of physicians are largely unknown. We do not know, for example, whether young physicians are influenced by their training to be compassionate and concerned or instead to learn behaviors that insulate them emotionally from their patients' needs. We do know, however, that during the years of residency training a young physician must face, simultaneously, many intense and stressful experiences,^{1 2 3} which are likely to change future behaviors and his or her self-image as a physician. The intern must, for the first time, assume responsibility for difficult and emotionally charged . . .