Long weeks, but also psychological, physical, sexual violence ... Medical interns are called on strike Friday and Saturday, with one requirement: to work "
only
" 48 hours a week.
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“
Already in 2019, interns in France worked an average of 58.4 hours per week. And that has not improved
”, especially with the Covid-19 crisis, warns Gaétan Casanova, president of the National Intersyndicale des Interns (Isni), according to whom they are“
in a bad state
”. "
We put ourselves in danger on a physical and psychological level,
" insists the intern in anesthesia, resuscitation, investigations in support.
A World Health Organization (WHO) study in May concluded that working 55 or more hours per week was associated with an estimated 35% increase in stroke risk and a 17% increase in risk of dying from stroke. 'ischemic heart disease.
Another, carried out in 2017 at the initiative of Isni, indicated that 23.7% of interns had already had suicidal thoughts, 28% had suffered from depressive disorders, 66% from anxiety disorders.
"
Improve their working conditions
"
"
And it is also dangerous for the patient
", adds Gaétan Casanova.
"
When, at the end of the call, it is difficult to make a subject / verb / complement sentence, I would like someone to explain to me how we can take care of a patient in an optimal way
".
The internship, the third cycle of medical studies, begins seven years after the baccalaureate and lasts from three to six years depending on the specialties.
France has a little more than 30,000 interns working in its hospitals.
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After two meetings at the Ministry of Health, unsuccessful according to the inter-union even if Olivier Véran is committed to "
improve their working conditions
", a call to strike was launched for Friday and Saturday.
It could be followed, even if measures of subpoena or requisition are not excluded.
In addition, a demonstration is planned in Paris on Saturday afternoon to demand "
the hourly count of working time
", the first step towards 48-hour weeks of work in accordance with European law.
Loss of capacity
"
The regulations exist, they are known, but they are not systematically applied in the hospital and what is more among the interns
", explains François Jaulin, who has just finished his internship in anesthesia-intensive care and asks for an in-depth reflection on training of future generations.
“
There is a whole panoply of possibilities, completely unknown in medicine, because of the inter-self
”.
To the extended weeks is added “
the fear of making mistakes,
” he notes.
And "
this is not the only form of violence
" to which young interns may be subjected, point out Amélie Jouault and Sara Eudeline, general practitioners, citing psychological, physical or even sexual violence.
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For their doctoral theses, defended last October, the two young doctors investigated the violence suffered by students in general medicine.
The result is clear: 93.6% of residents who responded to the questionnaire (2179 residents, 20% of the workforce) "
declared having suffered psychological violence occasionally or repeatedly during their studies
", 53.5% of sexual and gender-based violence, 49.6% of physical violence.
"
Do you see the window?
You open it and you jump
”after a bad answer;
"
You are going to hold the retractors, you are used to spreading them apart
";
throws of bloodstained compresses or pliers ... The facts and comments collected are overwhelming.
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Acts "
mostly committed by hierarchical superiors
" and that the students do not report.
However, a little more than four in ten victims believe that this has consequences for their physical and mental health, and 36.1% on their professionalism.
"
Violence reduces the ability to memorize and concentrate, block thinking
", underlines Amélie Jouault.
"
This situation therefore also has repercussions on the care of patients
", argues her colleague.