Physicians Work While Sick Due to Concern for Patients, Colleagues

Survey results published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reveal that physicians often come to work sick due to a sense of loyalty to already-overwhelmed peers and a commitment to patient care. This mentality can have unintended consequences, including compromised performance or exposing patients and staff to an illness.

A poll of 150 attendees of an American College of Physicians meeting in 2010 revealed that more than half had worked with flu-like symptoms at least once in the last year. One in six reported working sick on three or more occasions during the year. When asked if they believed they had ever transferred an illness to a patient, nearly 10 percent of respondents said yes. More than 20 percent believed other residents had passed on an illness to a patient.

The study authors, researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital, are calling for physician health to be better identified and addressed by medical educators and residency leaders. They said that the recent Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education mandate that physicians be deemed "fit for duty" is a promising start.

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