Dozy doctors of the world unite

22 May 2015 - 02:08 By Poppy Louw

Doctors around the world have lashed back after a blog post slammed a young Mexican doctor for sleeping on the job. Starting in Latin America, doctors started posting pictures of themselves sleeping on the job to highlight their gruelling working hours. Using the hash tag #YoTambienMeDormi ("I've also fallen asleep" in Spanish), the doctors are shown snoozing not only in designated rooms, but on the floor, hospital beds, wheelchairs, chairs and tables - basically, anywhere they can rest.Though the movement has not yet caught on in South Africa, local doctors said they sometimes have to work 36-hour shifts after as little as four hours of sleep.A 27-year-old second-year intern at an East Rand hospital said the amount of sleep doctors got affected their mood and productivity.He said: "We are often perceived as superheroes by people and they think we don't need sleep, but as much as they need sleep, so do we."He said he and his colleagues drew up sleep rosters so they can catch a nap during the quiet periods of a long shift. It is common practice for hospitals to have on-call rooms where doctors can nap.Lee Young - the managing executive of Careesma, an agency that places medical professionals - said while certain companies viewed sleeping on the job as a dismissable offence, not allowing doctors to sleep when appropriate placed the lives of patients at risk.SA Medical Association trade union executive for Gauteng Dr Sivuyile Madikana said the organisation is opposed to young doctors being grossly overworked, though it admitted the shortage of doctors in the country often led to such working environments.Madikana said: "Not getting some kind of rest can expose doctors to making mistakes with patients. It's possible to work 36 hours straight, but it's not completely at the optimum level."..

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