Joy Kwon, the medical student on "The Pitt," did something controversial in last week's episode: She left her emergency department shift on time.
This took the medical internet by storm. Let me unpack why. Let me also tell you why I'm Team Joy.
When the time came, she told Dr. Langdon that she was out of there. Langdon, her senior resident, vaguely chastised her for this. She did not care. For his part, Langdon made a good point about the importance of putting in extra time when needed.
But rather than acquiesce to the implied pressure to stay, Joy doubled down. She had several good arguments. She was paying to be there, not vice versa. She said that insufficient boundaries cause burnout and that burnout is widespread in medicine, emergency medicine in particular. She was correct.
Some of my colleagues, including ones I personally know and admire
