June 16, 2009...3:57 pm

Resident life

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Clinton wrote this …

The feds say that resident physicians — those toiling to learn a specialty, between med school and hanging up their own shingle — can work only 80 hours a week.

So, for 80 hours a week, Dr. Cathleen Sybert dons her scrubs and clogs and cares for patients in the N. C. Jaycee Burn Center. She’s almost finished with a 13-week rotation through the center, in her third of five years inthe UNC general surgery residency program.

Sybert’s role as a trainee far exceeds the stereotypical schlepping you might see on TV.   She is the chief resident, in charge of overseeing the patients’ care. She takes a lot of orders, but also gives them to staff. And she’s a trainer of interns (whose role is closer to the stereotypical schlepping you might see on TV).

For the video above, Stephanie and I caught up with Dr. Sybert earlier today and asked about the care of survivors from burns like those suffered by the survivors of the ConAgra explosion, four of whom remain in critical condition. She also told us what it’s like to be a resident at UNC, how surgery for burn patients differs from all others, and she remembers where she was the day of the disaster.

2 Comments

  • John D. Butz, C.S.T.

    I would like to thank both Drs. Cairns and Sybert for doing such a good job of keeping the UNC Hospitals community up to date with information regarding the Slim Jim factory explosion.


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