Date of Award

6-2014

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

French and Francophone Studies

First Advisor

Cheikh Ndiaye

Language

French

Keywords

illness, physicians, medicine, burnout

Abstract

Everyday, people feel a calling to become a doctor for various reasons. These reasons include experiencing a disease or illness either through a family member or on one’s own, having a desire since childhood from hearing stories and wanting to help others, and perhaps wanting to propagate a family tradition and career. Out of all of the many reasons in the world, a desire to help others rises above the rest among to-be doctors. Thus, medical students and doctors dedicate their lives to learning about the human body in depth, well beyond what any introductory courses in biology will teach. Yet, while students who eventually become doctors do enjoy their time in medical school and in their career, they often go into the field without realizing the immense stress that will be placed upon them. My thesis focuses on the source of all of these stressors and how they compare between two medical systems: in France and in the United States. What exactly are French and American medical students and doctors facing that leads to burnout? What can be done to ameliorate the stress that doctors in both of these countries experience?

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