Bill is all of us. Bill is us when we're beaten down, not listened to, used, abused, and tired. But like all of us, Bill keeps going. Bill is strong, capable, and resilient. And so are all of you.
This is actually an incredible way to spread awareness of how overworked residents are! To all residents: YOU ARE DOING GREAT! It’s not your fault that you are being overburdened. You are not weak. You are capable. You are awesome
Same bruh. I haven't even undergone residency but I can feel Bill just sucking everything up for the sake of "training" and because "it's how it has always been done". I seriously hope toxic med culture fucking changes soon.
Me too. I remember when I was at my graduation after completing my specialty training and the president of the college made a speech saying that were exceptional and our country needs us. My mother commented: that could have been said at least ONCE during training.
The most I got was: “someday you will make a fine doctor.” After I saved my dumbass attending 3 times from hurting a patient and getting sued… this after a nurse called him out on it.
I'm an old nurse, and I've met many Bills over the years. The ones I loved most were the doctors who became attendings and remembered what it was like. They became those great doctors who did what they could to break the cycle of treating the residents like expendable resources.
One of my favorite things as a Johnathan in the clinic, is seeing a Bill start a note, and me saying, "no that's my job" The look of relief they have is priceless. Plus the Bills can use me to practice their presentation of the patient before presenting to the attending. Makes my HPI all that much better too.
Thanks for all that you do. When I had my hem/onc clinic days, I loved the few times when I can step into a room and just talk without writing, while a Johnathan typed up the note. My efficiency went up to the roof 😁 💪🏾 Undergrad Premed Johnathans saving lives one note at a time 🤣
I actually teared up with the "You know you're a good doctor, right?"... because we are so hungry for approval and a full night's sleep that we lap that manipulative bullshit up like cream. And we don't do anything to change this because we are too overwhelmed /busy hustling and we are told repeatedly how lucky we are just to be there.... that there are so many other people who would have loved to take our places... so we let this happen. Yikes. Look at us.
What's the union like for medics in USA?? BMA is able to push through a fair bit of safety stuff for patient and staff benefit. Pay on the other hand they fail at sorting but I'd rather have a lower salary and less dangerous hours tbh. Is union not at all powerful over in US?? Different setting of private corporate healthcare I guess?
I'm so glad you were able to approach the incredibly serious topic of resident mistreatment and burnout by using humour in an appropriate way! It really brought out the issue while also holding our attention. This is a problem that will only improve because of awareness and conversation, so thank you for doing this! And making him write up his own report was priceless!
Humour has always been a tool of criticism primarily. Dr. Glaucomflecken is following in the footsteps of the Satyr, the court jester, and Bim and Bom; criticising the powerful through mockery.
@@Aetherian1 When I'm extremely angry over any kind of injustice, the only way I can express it is through sarcasm. I can't ever express my anger directly. I'm sure it's some kind of personality disorder.
@@sunshinegirl1967 I know right?! Like because I usually avoid conflict, I'm seen as a calm and collected person...but when I do feel bad about something and want to express it politely and constructively, I end up sounding sarcastic and cynical. Even though I know being sarcastic wouldn't help the situation at all.
transplant and vascular surg units are really tough emotionally. Do it as long as you can but don't do it longer than you're able to. My MIL was a kidney pt and all the people who worked with her had a special place in her heart. My ex was a transplant/vascular surg nurse for 5 years before she left and went to TICU. It's the best karma but don't burn out. Do what you can if you can for as long as you can. It's the same as Pediatrics. Do as much good as you can while you can and it's totally cool to walk away. Families are the worst, transplants and their families imprint on you more ways than one. Being a good Doc is very important and you're doing good every day, I assure you. Keep being a good Doc but a good person first. When you know you can't go anymore that's ok. Moving on is better than being disillusioned. Stay good again.
Andrea . . . There are only 24 hours in a day! (And I am totally willing to believe you worked 28 hours out of 24) I have never understood how any of you are able to learn anything with the kins of schedules you are expected to keep. It's ridiculous when you think about it, why do the people who make the rules seem not to think about it???
This hits too close to home. As a sole medical intern for a private hospital I was being paged left and right even when I was still with a patient. And the next morning during rounds I would be called out in front of other residents during rounds for not answering a few pages. My credentials were questioned and I was basically endorsed to hospital staff and patients as difficult. I would go home depressed after a long shift and look at my world map on the wall and just dream of disappearing to somewhere exotic and remote where all this BS didn't exist. A few years later I did that and I have no regrets. I got out alive and happier. I don't practice medicine much now but I do miss the scientific brainstorming but not the abuse. Thanks Dr. G. Your videos are really helpful.
@@0Aidan0Lynch0 the issue is there will be always ppl who are ready to compromise, which allows abuse. Just as sweatshops... every worker in them would love to have some rights in theory but in practice are forced to compromise to survive in the short run. That's the role of unions too, to create baseline acceptability conditions.
One of my best friends is a resident and I barely hear from him-through no fault of his own. The stories he tells are scary and the hours he has to work are mind-numbing. From the outside looking in, “hazing” seems like a more accurate term than “residency.” *Edit:* For those concerned, we do keep in touch. I message him regularly to check in, hear his stories, or keep him updated on the sports/games we both follow. He calls me when he has the time. My wife is a nurse, as his my friend’s fiancée, and we are all in a group chat. He has a good support system. But I worry about the residents who don’t. The system seems genuinely broken.
I'm sure they will really value hearing from you. Send them a message to tell them you see and remember them. That you will keep saying hi even if they don't reply. And try to encourage them to great a break when they can!
@@AgentSteffi Residents' orders have to be co-signed by an attending (consultant) physician for supervision and billing purposes since they are in training. So Feelings Bro just told Bill to write up his own therapy note and he would co-sign it.
Poor bill! This made me tear up, didn’t know how you were going to end but you never disappoint! Really enjoying the therapy session skits and waiting for the ‘couples therapy sessions’
Bill being called a good doctor was what broke me. He's been through so much and is handling too many things at once that a lot of us, if I can say that, feel desensitized to it but him having that one small praise is so refreshing. It's like a pallet cleanser really
A friend of mine, a former emergency medicine doctor, calls our medical system “an abusive cult.” She is in a therapy group for doctors with PTSD. The first time I met her she was, in fact, wearing a bicycle helmet and wraparound shades. Strong work, doc.
@@jenijenijenijeni find a good therapist! And maybe some drugs. My emotional life as an attending surgeon improved significantly after I started Effexor 🙃
Im from the caribbean, same here😑 the symbol for health should be a snake biting a dr cus thats what i feel like😔 not a resident , just a jr working in hospital.
A kind of vindictive part of me is glad that the psychiatrist also used Bill in the end… I’m a psychiatry resident and among other specialty residents there’s this idea that because we’re in psychiatry, our attendings are nicer to us or have us do less work bc they understand burnout. The only difference is that we get twice the wellness lectures. We still write all the notes and take all the call.
As a medical intern, who just finished a 28 hour shift, I cannot tell whether this made me cry- because it made me feel seen/validated or just because I am so tired 😂. Shout out to all the fellow interns/residents out there, you are all amazing, hang in there!
It seems MANIPULATIVE to me: that's absolutely not what I need. I need a different kind of residency, I need gentle help to become a better doctor. I don't need to know I am lucky to be where I am and I don't need to know that it's very much appreciated the way I'm wasting my all life, ending with burnout. Just a thought by a family doctor living in EU. Great video, great actor! I cried a lot, literally.
I love how this starts small like pagers and then the dam just bursts. Reminds me of one of my therapy sessions in college. My doc asked me how I was doing and I told her about how I dropped my phone in water, and then I left my therapy homework at home on the way to class and rushed back to get it, and then I was late to class and then... well it just kinda spiraled. I was laughing at how it was just a bad day at the start and ended it with weeping about my fears. Cheers doc. You were able to capture the sudden rush of emotions during therapy and still put a comedic spin on it.
Funny enough when I was a first year, our fourth year peer mentor was named Bill & he did indeed go into IM. Now whenever there’s a Bill skit, I think fondly of him and hope he is doing well somewhere.
Aww, I'm so glad Bill was finally able to find time to go to therapy! And I'm always stressed about dropping my one staff phone in the toilet, so good on ya Bill for juggling six!
When you're feeling beat down and it takes 1 person, a therapist to tell you "you're a good (insert job)" and the floodgates open. That's when you know you've been starved for recognition-not just food.
I kind of knew the American Healthcare system was toxic, but never realized just how toxic it was until your videos. Thank you for spreading the truth about this. All healthcare workers, you all are kind and good and amazing. Thank you for all that you do. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This particular aspect is sadly true almost anywhere in the healthcare system. The ratio of doctors and medical personnel vs people in need of them is grossly disproportionate almost anywhere. Make sure to take care of yourself, not only for yourself but for the medical workers out there.
This one hits home extra hard At some point this intern year, a standard good day for me changed from “I’m happy” to “I’m not sad…today.” It’s a hell of a grind
Aww, Bill! Don't forget those resiliency/mental health worksheets as well. Can't believe I survived off saltine crackers, water and mountain Dew on 36hr shifts.
No, sadly, despite evidence to the contrary (juggling 10 things at a time when sleep deprived) Bill doesn't know he's a good doctor. The system is very effective at beating down residents and making thenm feel incompetent. (sorry for the vehemence ... this triggers me ... still ... and I'm very near retirement)
LaPresse just had an article about how the mental health of medical staff is suffering so much right now. A 4th year student from McGill took their own life, and now people are trying to act. Seems like it’s always the same cycle. Someone is pushed too far, people notice and write about it, some actions are sort of done, it gets forgotten, pressure builds. Restart.
Did we ever answer what type of resident Bill is? Internal med? Also I hope Bill puts “Patient is a good doctor and in turn, cares enormously for his patients and his work is indispensable and underappreciated
My nephew is an ER Physician. He was born on 12/25. It was his 40th BDay. He wanted to take off Christmas Eve and his Birthday and asked 6 mo in advance. Only option was to pay out of his own pocket bonus monies for another to cover him. CRAZY! He’s an amazing Dr. Had juvenile Cancer survived it, became a paramedic, then went to Med School. He understands patients fear and pain, he lived it.
As an overworked resident myself, hearing “you know you’re a good doctor” is something that I wish people said to us more. 😢 This was so nice to hear on a busy call shift.
Dude…..I got a bit teary just watching this. Damn those pagers! I have PTSD over that one arpeggio sound that the pager makes….Had one for 4 years before med school as the inpatient lab supervisor-pages at 0200 stating “we are out of 10cc syringes”. WTF?! Then med school, residency….I asked the pager people if I could buy it after residency (as it broke the day before the last clinic day) I was going to throw a party and BURN IT. Nope….they wouldn’t let me have it. 🙄. Thank you for consistently being the bright point in every day! 😃❤️
I would have conveniently "lost" the pager. "Yup, sorry, just can't seem to find it. If you have to charge me or whatever for its cost, that's fine. Just as long as I don't have to buy it, I suppose."
Fuuuuck, I can hear the arpeggio pager now. That was our "on-call" pager. If any of the new interns' personal pager had that same tone, they didn't hear the end of it...
Your videos trigger me but I can’t stop watching. The irony that I am no longer a resident but I seek out to relive the trauma in your videos. What’s wrong with me? It’s too late for me to be dealing with something this existential.
Self harm through social media is definitely a thing that isn't discussed enough, but it is definitely a thing that people do. By "too late", I assume you mean "too late at night"? There are definitely psych professionals who can help if the behavior is significantly detrimental to your mental or physical health. Hang in there. You got this.
@@devent10n I think they mean “too late in their career.” They are finished this part of their life but they slightly masochistically like the watch videos that remind him of that time.
The subtle lighting changes as poor Bill recounted just part of his trauma followed by the halo when he was told that he's a good doctor. On point filmmaking
Like, at what point did someone look at training doctors and decide to essentially treat them like serfs? 24 hour shifts are so dangerous and must have diminishing returns after a certain point due to sleep deprivation and stress, right? This shit is confusing as hell. Shout-out to the Bills out there. I really hope we're marching to a world where this kind of treatment is totally unacceptable.
This is happening everywhere in the world. Medical field is not heaven. It's just common people don't realize it. I'm sure a lot of medical errors happen because of sleep deprivation.
I look forward to your vids so much. Amazing job switching characters. Perfect comic timing. My husband dropped a pager in the toilet… doesn’t make for a smooth call night
Fear of writing diet orders! 😂😂 Totally feel for our pediatric residents these past 4 days of constantly changing formulas orders due to the recall for whichever one we had on hand. 😵💫😩. Thanks Peds Residents!
We ALL need therapy... I freely admit I am one of those people who LOVES my therapist and thinks everyone should find one sometime in their life! Reach out if you need help! Don't be ashamed or embarrassed if something bothers you! Find your support! Whether it's in person or online, find it!
I agree 100%. If you're physically unwell or are having a problem that needs medical treatment, you go to a doctor. The fact that there's a stigma about getting the same kind of treatment because it's mental has the same ludicrousness as insurance companies acting like teeth and eyes are somehow not parts of your body 99% of the time.
Ignoring your mental health won’t make your problems go away. I think this comment deserves a pin. In a world where we are increasingly taught to prioritize our needs, mental and emotional health is neglected, and sometimes it really does just boils down to being kept too busy. But if we cannot care for our own well-being, then we cannot hope to function properly and build a healthier relationship with ourselves. The two go hand-in-hand, especially when you consider that our relationship with ourselves serves as a basis for how we treat other people. We deserve the same unconditional love and respect we give to others, even more so, you have to be part of your support system.
Oh, I remember those days. 4 pagers, ran across the street to a funeral for a still born baby of a nurse I delivered by staying extra for 12 hours to be there. I was the last intern year before the change to max 16 hours. Those were the days.
There was a point in residency when I would not put on mascara because I knew I would cry at some point during the day and didn't want to deal with the mess... Thank you for making this. I love you Bill. Hang in there. Sorry we all let you down. It gets better.
I know this is a channel about people working in medicine, but this message is something everyone needs to hear once in a while, especially if you are overworked. I try to be as friendly as I can to people where I know they have a job that's really stressful, or even in not job related things, cuz you never know when a "hey you're doing a great job, thank you!" is the one thing they needed to hear that day
Amazing work! In one form or another we have either been Bill, are Bill or seen our colleagues / loved ones being Bill. Thank you for highlighting the injustice of Bill.
Okay, i wasn't expecting something so emotional, doctor. I came to have a good easy light fun time. Left with awareness and empathy for the overworked healthcare workers. 🥺
Shoutout to all the Bills out there. Residency was trial by fire and there were days I felt completely lost, overworked, and overwhelmed. Another feeling was guilt because I knew my family was sacrificing for me and I couldn’t be there for them like I wanted. I love my career and can’t imagine anything else but Residency was hard. Really hard and I have mad respect for my Residents.
Today one of my patients said we were only discharging him because we "milked all his money" and we "get paid a ton". I said in a flat affect way "sir, I'm a resident and I get paid minimum hourly wage."
Litterally just woke up. This is us in the lab, busy af understaffed and worried about our patients. It's nice to just be recognized. Mostly just us phlebs
This started out by making me laugh so hard and then it slowly evolved into me tearing up because of how many of these sentiments I feel in my own residency program right now ha. #beenthereBill
I almost cried, damn it. Respect to all the residents out there that are struggling, and to all the doctors also overworking. Thanks for your service, you deserve everything.
Had a friend go through residency and it made me glad I didn’t go to med school. That time absolutely changed him. Going in he was optimistic, happy and a good time to be around. Over time he became cynical, withdrawn and now is just unpleasant to everyone. We don’t hangout anymore after he got angry over something trivial we were talking about the last time we hung out and he told me not to contact him anymore. He finished the program not long after the disagreement but I don’t think he will ever be the same. Whatever you guys have to deal with just shattered him completely
The whole thing is relatable but that part about not going to the dentist hit home. The last time I went to the dentist was in my first semester of medical school because a filling came out. That was October of 2016.
Man, dreaming about all the pagers and crying in your sleep is such a mood and I don't even work in the medical field. Thank you for all that you do for us and for each other
I end up in the hospital a lot (medical issues) and I usually see the residents and not the attending physician. They are almost always so kind, so hard working, and so willing to listen to their patients. They are so overworked and underpaid but they never come across as jaded or like I am bothering them by being there. The last resident I saw made me cry happy tears because she was so sweet and helpful. If you are in residency I just want to say; Thank you for doing a job where you are so stressed, so tired, and not thanked enough. You are doing an amazing job and you deserve to be treated with the same level of compassion that you give to your patients❤ keep going, don’t give up, you deserve to be there and your hard work shows.
1:28 the only thing that came out of me was this unintelligable "auuwahauuauwww" sound 🥺it is soo heartwarming, shoutout to all the Bills out there! You guys are awesome doctors ❤