JournalClinical medicine (London, England) ABSTRACT IntroductionDoctors may experience better physical health than the general population, but higher rates of mental illness, suicide, depression, compassion fatigue and substance misuse are widely described. 1,2 In addition, workplace stress can lead to high rates of doctor burnout. 2Although the need to address doctors' health has been recognised, 2-5 medical training internationally gives little emphasis to self-care.2 In Ireland, some support services are available for doctors, although these are limited. 6 A key difficulty is the issue of unconventional access to health services. Studies have shown that doctors often engage in selfprescribing, self-referral, 'corridor consultations', denial and symptom minimisation.2,3,7 Many work through illness which can impact negatively on the care of their patients. Non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) experience particular stressors associated with working in hospital jobs and being at an early stage of their careers. 8 In Ireland, training requires NCHDs to frequently relocate. This, combined with health expenditure cutbacks, increased healthcare demand, non-compliance with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) and increased public expectations, has led to difficult working conditions. 8 This study aimed to identify the factors driving NCHD health behaviours, assess the impact of workplace stress on NCHDs and evaluate initiatives which may improve the health behaviours of this new generation of doctors. It also assessed their standard of self-care and preferred sources of support.There have been few studies 1 , 9,10 worldwide focusing specifically on NCHD health behaviours and these were limited in terms of direct feedback from the doctors themselves. MethodologyA review of the literature revealed that there were no validated instruments that specifically addressed the study objectives. However, elements from previous studies 1,7,11,12 did contain similar components and these were adapted to facilitate comparisons. This resulted in the development of a 25-item survey, which aimed to assess current health behaviours, the impact of work-related stress and coping strategies, sources of support, training in self-care and stress management, and invited feedback in terms of possible solutions and interventions to improve NCHD wellbeing.
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