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How resident spend post-call time

Residency Program Insider, January 8, 2016

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Noticing a lack of research into how residents spend off-duty time, medical researchers interviewed residents at a Canadian medical school about their post-call activities following 24-hour on-call shifts. Their findings, which were published in Academic Medicine, suggest residents spend their post-call time not only resting but also reconnecting with their identities, roles, and relationships outside the hospital.

Researchers call this reconnection “recovery of self,” which is not unlike the practice of psychological detachment. Prior research on psychological detachment found that it may play a role in improving personal well-being and job performance.
 
The researchers also found that studying was not a predominately reported post-call activity. Some residents stated that fatigue prevented them from engaging in cognitively demanding tasks, such as studying. Less cognitively demanding activities such as spending time with loved ones was more feasible.

Source: Academic Medicine

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