Young working doctors

Violence while attending residency programs

Abstract

Introduction: in Uruguay specialists are trained through medical residency, and thus, it constitutes one of their first work experiences.
Objetive: the objective of the research study was to analyse the situations of violence suffered by young working doctors when attending medical residencies in different institutions of the health system from September through November 2007. We conducted a descriptive study in the medical residents' population for the different specializations.
Method: data obtained was statistically analysed and the narration of the situations of violence identified were qualitatively analysed.
Results:69% (308/446) of the residents notice situations of violence. The most frequent ones are psychological violence 89% (274/308), emotional deprivation 51.9% (160/308) and physical violence 7.1% (22/308).
A third of the total number of doctors completing the last year of their residency have presented at least one situation of violence per year. Offenders have been family members, workmates and patients, in that order. The situations of violence noticed by the medical residents during work constitute an additional demand in their obligations. Interactions between the technical and non-technical world are signed by the presence of unstable relationships. Within this context, the medical residents are the visible face most commonly associated to the medical structure of the specialists system, and thus are one of the most appropriate targets for aggressions in the dynamics of the health systems.