ABSTRACT

It is paradoxical that while doctors are the primary providers of healthcare, they represent one of the most unhealthy professional groups. It seems that this starts in medical school and is reinforced by hospital training, which acts as a rite of passage to enter the profession. Traditionally, medical students are subjected to years of long hours of study and exam stress with few outlets for creative expression or stress relief, apart from the drunken frenzy of the occasional medical student ball. This was certainly my experience of medical training in the 1980s. Luckily, I was able to broaden my outlook by taking 4 years off my undergraduate course to pursue a broader perspective on health and to apply this experience through part-time work at an innovative private hospital. This piece describes how this has led me to introduce Australia’s first residential health enhancement program for medical students.