Transforming What It Means to Be a Resident
March 2009 President's Report
What do you want to get out of being a member of CIR? It’s in your hands.
I’m a firm believer that your residency is what you make of it, and this month’s issue of CIR News tells the story of residents who are finding their own balance between work and activism, and transforming their communities, in small and large ways. It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind, so it’s important to be reminded of the power you have to leave your personal mark on your residency.
You’ll read in this month's newspaper about residents stepping up to the plate through service, advocacy and activism, and questioning long-held conventions of our medical training that get in the way of our safety and good patient care. From small projects to huge campaigns, residents are seizing opportunities to improve our hospitals and our work environment for future generations.
In New Mexico, a small group of CIR members spent the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service operating a free clinic at a community center for recent immigrants and the uninsured, treating a dozen patients who otherwise would have gone without care.
Then there are the Patient Care Funds (PCFs), established through bargaining contracts at many CIR hospitals. We’ve been able to fund some substantial long-term programs. Recent innovative projects supported by PCF money include a pharmacy voucher program for indigent patients, a center for Refugee Health and Human Rights, and a project to make radiation exam rooms child-friendly.
On a larger scale, some residents are jumping into the fray and rallying against devastating budget cuts. Physicians in Boston and San Francisco rallied this winter to defend their safety net hospitals, and residents in Queens came out in numbers to protest the imminent closure of two hospitals.
Being a resident can also be about challenging the way things are done and the conditions within our hospitals – and CIR can be your path to do just that. We are in a unique position to speak out about health care reform because we work in safety net hospitals where we see the system failing patients every day. We’re also using our experiences to raise awareness of unsafe OR practices, and the need for work hours reform so residents are not in danger of injuring themselves or their patients.
By weighing in on OR safety or on the work hours recommendations released by the Institute of Medicine, we are challenging what it means to be a resident for ourselves and for those who will follow in our footsteps. We’re starting a public conversation about the work culture that we inhabit, and how we can work safer and smarter.
How will you leave your mark? Could you be the doctor giving up one holiday to help the uninsured? Might you be the resident who joins the committee for your hospital’s Patient Care Fund? Or will you use the resources of CIR to help define what it means to be a resident in the 21st century? Residency is what you make of it. As a member of CIR, find your balance— make your mark!