Ms Tyzuk responds
I appreciate the response from Drs Moore and Dufour and their support in recognizing that physician health is an area of medicine that is far too often neglected. With regard to the controversy over resident duty hour limits, they rightly clarify that most programs have dealt with such limits simply by rearranging work schedules rather than hiring new employees or cutting hours overall.
The issue of physician work hours and resident duty hour limits is a lengthy paper unto itself, and has been the subject of great debate in recent years. It was not my intention to provide a full exploration of this topic, but rather to give examples of some commonly cited arguments against progressive changes and to demonstrate the obstacles that we face in promoting this aspect of physician health.
I would like to echo the sentiments of Drs Moore and Dufour on behalf of CAIR, and I appreciate their work on improving patient and physician safety and well-being.
—Katie Tyzuk
UBC MD Class of 2014